A House Divided
by wafische
Summary: Superstitions run high as an extremist ghost organisation attacks. Revised Edition. Please R&R.
1. Attack

It was a dark and stormy night. What had started as a drizzle that came in from the Atlantic that afternoon was now a full-blown thunderstorm, with heavy rains and howling winds persistent with the lightning. It was in this hostile environment that Danny and Sam found themselves running down the street in towards an old warehouse by the seaport as a favour for Danny's dad. Over his normal clothes Danny had an overcoat like Humphrey Bogart in _Casablanca_; Sam had a long black leather coat. To catch their breath and get some relief from the rain, the two ran into an alley and under the fire escape.

"Why couldn't Tucker come again?" Sam said between breaths.

"He said he had something really important to do with his dad."

---

Tucker and his dad were standing by their brand new television system, extremely excited.

"TV?" Tucker's dad asked.

"Check."

"Comfortable chairs?"

"Check."

"Stereo system?"

"Check."

"DVD player and new surround sound?"

"Check."

"DVDs?"

"Check."

"Popcorn?"

"Check."

"You have absolutely nothing to do with Danny or Sam and didn't lie to them by saying we had something important to do?"

"Check," Tucker didn't really pay attention to that last one.

"Well Tucker," his dad handed him the remote, "Are you ready for the all night science fiction movie marathon!?"

"Hit it!" they jumped in the chairs and turned the first DVD on.

---

"So what's your dad need again?" Sam asked as Danny pulled the piece of paper out of his inside coat pocket.

"He got some supplies for ghost-hunting gear from an old friend in high school. Ever since the 'Frost incident' (as his dad put it) he's been doing everything he can to hide from government surveillance, so he had it 'smuggled' into Amity," he looked out at the open road; the rain was getting heavier, "we'd better get this over with," he put the paper away before running with Sam as fast as they could over to the warehouse. They got the door open and headed inside quickly. The room had two sacks of freshly caught fish and hundreds of cardboard boxes, half of them full.

"Well this won't take any time at all," Sam muttered sarcastically.

"It says on the note to look for a blue plastic container, so it shouldn't be too hard to find," the sound of screaming diverted their attention. The manager of the warehouse ran out of the building, being chased by a box. Both Danny and Sam now looked bored and irritated at once.

"Not again," Sam sighed, "How many times in one fanfiction series is he going to..." she was interrupted as ghost vapour came together in front of them, forming...

"I am The Box Ghost!" the ectoplasmic being shouted, "I have power over all things..."

"Cardboard, square, and container in use," Danny and Sam had heard it before.

"Uh, yeah! What you said!" he thought for a minute, "Now tremble, as I am prepared to bury you under the mighty weight, of..." he read a box, "Fresh Mid-Atlantic salmon from the Boston Harbour Fishing Company!" he raised almost all the boxes in the air. Still looking ticked, Sam stepped in front of Danny, who went ghost. Sam stepped back over to the side. As The Box Ghost began tossing the boxes all over the place, Danny just phased through them. Sam just moved out of their way. The Box Ghost held up one box, flying over to Danny as if he was going to smash it down on his head. Danny just punched him in the nose and knocked him back. When he got his wind back, he flew up again, his nose in pain.

"You! You dare to strike The Box Ghost!? Prepare to face the wrath of my correlated cardboard vengeance!" Danny started to form an energy blast. The Box Ghost looked around; all the boxes were damaged.

"Uh..." he thought for a minute, "I've changed my mind!...Sort of. I will indeed have my..."

"Correlated cardboard vengeance," Danny and Sam muttered in monotone.

"Yes! I shall have that thing that you have said! But I shall wait for a more opportune moment! Beware!" he forgot to phase through the wall on his way out, "That was intentional! BEWARE!" he left. Sam stepped in front of Danny again as he went back to normal and the manager came back in.

_(He's a Phantom)  
(Danny Phantom)_

**_Yo, Danny Fenton, he was just fourteen  
When his parents built a very strange machine  
It was designed to view a world unseen_**

_(He's gonna catch 'em all cuz he's Danny Phantom)  
_  
**_When it didn't quite work  
His folks, they just quit  
But then Danny took a look inside of it  
There was a great big flash  
Everything just changed  
His molecules got all rearranged!_**

_(Phantom, Phantom)_

**_When he first woke up  
He realized  
He had snow white hair  
And glowing green eyes  
He could walk through walls,  
Disappear, and fly!  
He was much more unique than the other guy! _**

It was then that he knew what he had to do  
He had to stop all the ghosts  
That were coming through  
He's here to fight  
For me and YOU!

_(He's gonna catch 'em all cuz he's Danny Phantom)  
(He's gonna catch 'em all cuz he's Danny Phantom)_

**Gonna catch them all cuz he's** _Danny Phantom  
_  
**A HOUSE DIVIDED  
**  
In spite of the scandals that had occurred in it, Paranormalics continued to hold on to their now fully repaired underground base. The new head of the organisation, General Gary Conrad, had been working for the past few months to completely uncover all the corruption Frost had brought to the department. Half of the Special Forces working for the organisation ended up imprisoned for involvement with The Gateway. Hundreds of illegal ghost weapons were dismantled. Most importantly, the staff had been completely replaced, save one member. The general public didn't treat paranormal activity as science; they viewed it with superstition and fear. They didn't necessarily support Frost, but demanded that the one member of Frost's staff that was not implicated in any scandals remain; Ken Bruce. Conrad, Bruce, and the rest of the staff were now meeting in the conference room, with the head of Paranormal Monitoring speaking.

"The recent sighting was in a warehouse owned by the Boston Harbour Fishing Company in Amity Park," he was saying, "The manager of the warehouse said that the ghost looked like a construction worker and a burglar put together, had a really dumb voice, controlled cardboard boxes, and kept shouting 'beware!'"

"The same ghost has been seen a couple times throughout Amity," Bruce commented, "along with quite a few other ghosts. From all the reports, it could be the most haunted city in America. I propose a full investigation, send in troops, capture a ghost, get some answers..." Conrad interrupted him.

"What was the damage?" he asked.

"Besides a bunch of smashed cardboard boxes? Nothing," the head of Paranormal Monitoring sat back down

"General Conrad," Bruce began.

"Monitor the city as we have been doing."

"But sometimes more important measures are needed,"

"Not when the ghost is a little nimrod who shouts 'beware!' all the time and no serious damage has been reported," Bruce backed off, though cleary disappointed.

---

One of the guards in the base stood at his post, almost falling asleep. They were underground in a secret location (the media couldn't find that out when investigating the incidents with Frost); what was the point of his standing around doing nothing? He hadn't even bothered to turn on his ghost-tracker. This was unfortunate on his part. He couldn't see the ghost behind him, or hear it. It moved in slowly, as stealthily as a panther in the forest. It's eyes and nose showed that it was...or had been human. Now it was covered in small black furs, with elf-like ears and a cat's tail, with glowing yellow eyes. It paused for a minute, smiling and licking its lips. Slowly it rose up on its two hind legs. It could not stand exactly like a human; there was something animal about his stance. It began to change...slowly, but it did change. Change into a strange green ghost fog. This fog flew into the guard's body. He had overshadowed him. At the other four corners of the base, pirate ghosts overshadowed the guards there, although these ghosts could overshadow them in a normal way. Above ground, standing in the ruins of Frost's mansion, their leader awaited a report. He had long hair and was dressed in a very heroic, old-fashioned style (he looked like Orlando Bloom at the very end of _Pirates of the Caribbean_).

"Velkan?" the words entered his mind through telepathy "We are in."

"Good," Velkan smiled, "Begin."

---

Two more alert guards stood at the first door in the northern corridor. They had their ghost-trackers activated. They began to go off, and they aimed their ectoplasmic lasers at the entrance to the corridor. The guard overshadowed by the panther-ghost stepped out.

"Uh...you seen a ghost?" one of them asked. The guard suddenly seemed to explode, releasing a giant flash of light. The panther-ghost quickly flew out of the light, becoming ghost fog again and flying into one of the now terrified guards. Soon both were gone in a flash of light, and it opened the door, charging down the hallways on all fours. The other ghosts took care of their ends of the base by drawing their rapiers on the guards at the last possible moment. They slowly made their way towards the centre of the base...

---

Sir!?" one of the guards ran in, a nervous wreck, "Overshadowed...men...ghost...heading.... this.... direction!" he collapsed from fear. The staff began muttering to themselves, Bruce pulling out an ectoplasmic laser. Conrad stood up.

"Gentlemen," he said, "I suggest we head to the nearest shelter and bring arms with us. Nothing fatal," he eyed Bruce. They quickly but calmly headed out to the shelter...except Bruce. He made his way to the control room.

---

The guards at the northern corridor were in a panic, trying desperately to avoid the panther-ghost. Snarling like a cat, the being charged down the halls, quickly jumping on the walls to avoid ectoplasmic laser blasts as he overtook the guards. In the other hallways, guerrilla warfare had broken out between the ghosts and the guards, the ghosts clearly having the upper hand, drawing ghost pistols and able to use their blades as shields from the firepower of the guards. Velkan had entered the base, calmly walking down the stairs of the northern corridor and heading down the cleared halls.

---

Although Conrad would have preferred to stay and fight with his staff, they insisted he go alone into the safest room in the shelter. They held their weapons at the door, ready.

---

The halls and corridors were cleared. All the guards lay unconscious, dead or had vanished in the panther-ghost's light. Altogether, ten ghosts had been sent in, all gathered at the door to the conference room. Velkan continued heading down the corridors, using an ectoplasmic laser hidden in his coat to shoot one out of the hand of a semiconscious guard. He arrived, his men lining up in salute (except the panther-ghost, which crouched down). He nodded to the commander of the squadron before opening the door and looking around. Nothing.

"They've headed for shelter" he concluded aloud, "Let us proceed," he walked in, his men following. The shelter was around the corner from the back door to the conference room. Velkan looked down at the panther-ghost, which smiled and slowly transformed into the strange green fog and drifted through the crack at the bottom of the door.

---

The staff noticed the green fog drifting in from under the door, surrounding them. All followed its path with their eyes, but none dared fire for concern of a surprise attack. The fog settled in one place. It lay dormant for a moment. Then it lashed out, entering one staff member who vanished in a blinding flash of light. The rest of the ghosts except Velkan phased through, the battle beginning. The panther-ghost became fog again, drifting into the room that held Conrad. As it re-formed, Conrad pulled out a weak laser and shot it in the shoulder. It fell back onto the floor, going into a violent spasm. After it had finally passed, all the hair shot off it, leaving behind the ghost of an ordinary man.

"Thank you!" he sneezed, "I am terribly allergic to animal fur!" he vanished in a flash of light, leaving Conrad confused. He turned his attention elsewhere. He slowly opened the door, scanning to see if the ghosts were still in it. His staff lay unconscious, save the one member the panther-ghost had claimed. He checked to be sure they were all right before looking around, his weapon ready.

"Good day, general," he felt something on his back, "I'd advise you drop that," he did. Slowly he turned around to meet his opponent, "I am Velkan."

"Good day, Mr. Velkan. May I ask why you've broken into a secured government area?"

"You may ask," it seemed like a light conversation between friends, "I won't answer, but you may ask. This is not a paranormal weapon, it is a real gun. Now put your hands behind your head," Conrad slowly raised his arms up. But Velkan had not noticed the emergency switches on the wall. Conrad flipped the middle one, causing a flash of ectoplasmic rays to shine down on the whole room. Velkan dropped his weapon and threw his hands up to his burning head, quickly phasing out of the room and the base when he discovered this had happened everywhere. Conrad looked over the staff once more before running back into the most secured room to examine the hairs left behind by the panther-ghost. Bruce watched from the control room, recording the security tape.


	2. Problems at School

The alarm went off, signalling the beginning of another day of school. Danny hit the button, turning it off, and slowly got out of bed. The clouds still hadn't cleared, and he had a feeling that Amity was due for another rainy day. He got ready for school and ran downstairs. His dad was reading the paper, watching the news, and drinking coffee at once.

"Danny, I'd like to thank you again for picking up those supplies last night," he said.

"No problem."

"In fact I'd appreciate it if you and your friends would do the same for me again this weekend. We had to move the location at which to pick them up, though. Ever since that problem with Paranormalics you can't be too careful. Not to mention Wakeman's on my back again. Speaking of Paranormalics, I think they're on the news," Danny looked over at the T.V. It showed a large crowd in Washington, D.C., with everyone wearing good-luck charms and holding up signs either reading, "Ghosts are Here! Protect the Public!" or having signs on them that were thought to ward off ghosts in medieval times.

"This crowd demonstrates the reaction to the incident at Paranormalics Headquarters," the reporter was shouting, "The shown tapes given to all news networks in the country by an anonymous source have reveal that a band of pirate ghosts made an attack on the organisation's home base, which still remains in a secret location. The level of public fear and superstition has skyrocketed, and stores selling magic spells and good-luck charms have never had better business! All over the country schools are being covered with symbols to protect their children, while public places are being closed down for fear of being haunted! One can only imagine the affect that this will have on Amity Park, rated one of the most haunted cities in the United States by our source." Danny kept his eyes on the screen.

"This can't be good," he muttered to himself.

"Just sad," his dad said, "What kind of ghost facility lets ghosts fly right in! I missed the airing of the tape and your sister took the main page of the newspaper with the pictures for some school project. Speaking of school it's time for you to get going," Danny grabbed his backpack and headed out, still keeping an eye on the news...

---

"I'm telling you, I've never seen so many good-luck and magic symbols in my life!" Danny was telling Tucker and Sam on the bus, "This cannot be a good thing."

"I saw it too," Sam nodded, "And since your dad's ghost-zone portal lets out ghosts all the time, we can't cut the ghost-hunting down and Amity'll still be viewed as the biggest haunt in the country," they looked at Tucker; his eyes were bloodshot and he was half-asleep.

"What did you have to do with your dad anyway?" Danny asked.

"Huh? Oh, uh..." he couldn't think of an excuse right away, so... "something...very important. And exhausting. Man, am I tired! So what were you guys talking about again?" they both sighed.

"Any idea what those ghosts were up to?" Danny asked Sam.

"Nope, but whatever it was it can't be good for ghosts if it causes this much superstition."

"I just hope..." Danny looked out the window. The school had a huge cross mounted on it, with good-luck, magic, and religious symbols painted on every window, and two large chains of garlic were hanging from the flag pole.

"...that Casper High isn't one of the schools that freaks out about this," he sighed.

---

Mr. Lancer had called the students to an emergency gathering in the theatre. They gym was full of garlic, so that didn't make anyone too happy. A couple kids had good-luck charms with them; Dash and his group of jocks seemed uninterested. Mr. Lancer stepped up to the podium.

"May I have your attention, students?" he said, "Thank you. As some of you may have seen on the news, an incident involving our government has been called to our attention. I'm sure all of you remember the piece of news where our Mr. Fenton and his family uncovered the files showing the corruption of the CIA department Paranormalics under Sarah Frost," Danny smiled weakly and sank lower in his chair as most of the kids turned to look at him.

"Now the department is headed by General Gary Conrad. Last night, an assassination attempt was made on the lives of Conrad and his staff," this drew gasps from around the theatre, "by paranormal beings. This is a very serious issue, students. These ghosts are considered terrorists, and our town has a history of haunting. That is why we have taken a few minor precautions."

"Minor?" Danny elbowed Tucker to get him quiet.

"School hours will be conducted as they always have. We must all remain calm...or, as you kids say, 'keep it cool,'" one could almost hear a cricket chirping, "Well, report to your first hour."

---

The lunchroom was one of the only rooms that was relatively normal. An extra salad bar that had only garlic was the only thing unusual. That, and everyone muttering their fears of ghosts and paranormal beings. Danny, Sam, and Tucker sat at their usual lunch table, Tucker struggling to keep from falling asleep and landing his face in his sandwich.

"So..." he yawned, "That was what was on the news?"

"Yep," Sam said, "And now we've really got a problem. When you parents find out about what happened they'll be..."

"They know," Danny sighed, "Hopefully news somehow gets to The Ghost-Zone so they'll stay there."

"That does leave the one ghost we know would never have the brains to..."

"The Box Ghost?" Danny and Sam asked at once.

"We just had to fight him last night trying to get my dad's supplies," Danny said, "He normally waits at least a few days before making an idiot of himself again," blue ectoplasmic smoke then came from his mouth, and then...

"Oh, Fenton!" he heard someone shout, "Oh, Fennnnnnnnnntonnnnnnnnnnnn..."

"Oh, great," Danny got yanked out of his chair from behind.

"As you are aware, Fenton," Dash said, "We've got ghost problems. I think that it would be safer for all of us if they had a weak, easy victim to terrorise. To help them find you, I think I'll make you stand out a little more. Black and blue in white hallways with green lockers tends to get noticed," he made a fist with his free hand and prepared to hit him, but his eyes were suddenly covered by a sandwich.

"Hey!" Tucker shouted at Sam, "That was my lunch!"

"Get lost, Dash," Sam reached for something else in case he didn't leave.

"Oh, how sweet," Dash said mockingly after he got the sandwich out of his face, "Your girlfriend is fighting your battles for you!"

"I'M (SHE'S) NOT HIS (MY) GIRLFRIEND!" Danny and Sam shouted at once. Dash's jock friends grabbed the other trays with food as Dash tried again to hit Danny. Before he could, however, something black that was dressed in a light cream-coloured coat and trousers attacked him, knocking him on the floor and kicking him out of the cafeteria. It whirled around, getting up on two legs but having an animal-like posture. Danny's jaw dropped at what he saw. Whatever it was, it used to be human. It had black fur, elf-like ears, a cat's tail, and glowing yellow eyes. It smiled, showing its strange teeth. They were neither that of a human nor a cat, but a cross between the two. Slowly it crouched down lower, shooting a menacing glare towards Danny, Sam and Tucker. Then, in a flash, it leapt towards Sam, who barely managed to duck. It hit the wall with its feet, whirling around and heading back towards them. This time it collapsed right on top of Sam, snarling in her face. It was distracted when a tray flew threw its head, proving to the now terrified students that whatever it was when alive, it was a ghost. It set its eyes on Danny. He and Tucker had barely managed to set their lunch table standing completely vertical, and now pushed it down on the panther- ghost, Sam quickly climbing away. The students all rushed out of the cafeteria as fast as they could, the panther-ghost slowly phasing its way out from under the table.

---

Mr. Lancer opened the door to his office and saw the entire school flooding down the hallways, screaming.

"What is the meaning of this!? I mean," he pulled out his book, _How to Speak Hip for the Un-Hip_, "Yo, dogs! What's goin' down!?" it was now he noticed a second wave of the flood, the worst possible one to be caught in; the jock wave.

"_RICHARD III!_" in their rush, they trampled over Mr. Lancer.

"Well then," he said as he slowly got back on his feet, "Maybe I'll just..." he consulted his book, "'go with the flow,'" he collapsed back inside his office. Meanwhile, Danny and his friends were charging down the hallways with everyone else, towards the back of the crowd.

"What the heck was that thing!?" Tucker shouted.

"Who cares! RUN!" they moved faster, but soon came to a stop. After a blinding flash of light came from behind them, the few kids that were further back got knocked forward. The panther-ghost was charging down the hallway on all fours, snarling.

"Cover me!" Sam and Tucker surrounded Danny as he went ghost, "Now keep running!" they didn't hesitate...at first.

"Oh, no," Tucker moaned, "it's coming! The effects of watching sci-fi movies all night are coming up yet again!"

"Wait," Sam said, "You were watching movies last night!?"

"Growing tired...can't run," he began to slow down, "Must...go...to sleep," he fell asleep. Sam sighed and started dragging him by his leg.

---

Danny landed a kick right in the panther-ghost's stomach, knocking it back into the kitchen. He readied two energy blasts and fired them forward, blowing up the garlic bar; the panther-ghost managed to quickly become ghost fog and re-form right in front of Danny, knocking him to the ground. Danny kicked it off of him, standing up and whirling around. The panther-ghost sent a blinding light blast towards the floor right in front of Danny. It burst into an even brighter flash that knocked Danny upwards, flying through the ceiling and out onto the roof of the school. The panther-ghost flew up to meet him.

"What _are_ you!?" Danny muttered, firing off more energy blasts. The panther- ghost jumped up to avoid them and came down on Danny, causing him to crash into the upstairs biology lab...he had no time to phase through, instead crashing right through the ceiling. The panther-ghost flew through the hole, smiling and licking its lips. Danny slowly stood up, aching all over and covered in a white tablecloth.

"That does it," he charged forward at the panther-ghost.

---

Sam was going as fast as she could, Tucker still asleep despite his head having hit five lockers and two doors.

"Need help, Ms. Manson?" Mr. Lancer came out of his office, bruised, beaten, and covered in dust.

"Oh...yes, please," Mr. Lancer picked up Tucker.

"Would you mind explaining this to me? No, wait..." he pulled out his book.

"There's a ghost in the school!" Sam said quickly before he could use a slang term.

"What ghost?" they heard the sound of fighting up ahead and ran over. Danny (covered in the tablecloth) and the panther-ghost had crashed down into the hallway, blocking the exit to the school.

"That ghost," Sam pointed at the panther-ghost. Danny attacked it, knocking it into the trophy case (and accidentally damaging Dash's trophy, causing him to scream like a girl). It struck back, slashing across Danny's chest with its now bared claws. The tablecloth falling away, Danny collapsed to the floor on his knees, gripping his wound. Dash looked closely at him.

"Doesn't he seem familiar?" murmurs of agreement followed. Danny phased through the floor. The panther-ghost sniffed around the area he had been at before looking back at the crowd, its eyes specifically set on Sam. It leapt forward again, but before it could hit, Danny rammed into it, knocking them both through ten classrooms and out of the school.

"I don't think those good-luck charms have done us any good," Danny said, "But we've got something better; another ghost!" the panther-ghost hissed, throwing another light at Danny. He protected himself with an ectoplasmic shield, but something different happened this time. The shield wrapped around the light, forming a bright yellow ball that landed in Danny's palm.

"Well that's new," he threw it, hitting the panther-ghost right in the chest. It flew back at least ten yards, crashing into a tree. All the fur flew off him, leaving the ghost of an ordinary man who started sneezing.

"I hate cats!" he shouted before vanishing.

"OK...that was odd," Danny went back to normal and felt his wound. The cuts weren't very deep, but they were very long. He didn't have time to worry about them, though. The students were running outside to see the fight. He ran behind the building, climbed through an open window, and barely managed to get into the crowd as the last of them headed outside.


	3. Dash's Suspicions

The Fenton RV pulled up in front of the school, Jack jumping out with the Ghost Gloves on his hands, the Fenton Thermos and Fenton Fisher in his belt, and the Ghost-Track Goggles on his eyes. Maddie just had an ectoplasmic laser. Casper High had been closed down, and Mr. Lancer had called Jack in to investigate. Jazz was not happy about this.

"I am telling you," she was shouting at Mr. Lancer as he ran out to meet Jack, "That was not a ghost!" it didn't work.

"Mr. Fenton!" Mr. Lancer was about to shake his hand before he noticed the gloves, "Thank you for coming in on such short notice!"

"Hey, anywhere my kids are in danger and there's a chance at catching a ghost, I'm there!" Jack charged up the gloves, "So the school's haunted, eh? _I knew it!_ What did it look like?"

"Well..." Mr. Lancer thought for a minute, "There were two of them, you see...the one I saw looked like a man with elf-ears and black fur. The other one was covered in a tablecloth."

"I see. What's the damage?"

"A hole in the roof and the wreckage of the trophy of our star quarterback Dash Baxter. As the kids would say, 'it was quite a freaky ride!'"

"Where's Danny?" Maddie asked, looking around; she only saw Jazz.

"He, Mr. Foley, and Ms. Manson headed home immediately. It seems young Danny was injured in the chaos."

"_Is it serious!?_" Jack grabbed Mr. Lancer, forgetting he had the gloves on.

"No..." Mr. Lancer managed to cough out, "He should be fine..." Jack dropped him.

"I'm not leaving here until the ghost that hurt him feels the cold metal grasp of these gloves. To the...where'd the ghost first show up again?"

"The cafeteria," Mr. Lancer was still on the ground.

"To the cafeteria!" Jack ran off, accidentally trampling over Mr. Lancer.

"Sorry," Maddie apologised, hurrying in after her husband.

---

"So let me get this straight," Tucker said as the three friends walked down the streets of Boston, "You hit it with some new power, all that fur blew off it, and it became some ghost guy who's allergic to cats?"

"Pretty much," Danny was still holding the slashes that the panther-ghost had got on him, "Then he just vanished. Any idea why it was trying to get you?" he looked at Sam.

"Not a clue," she shrugged.

"You think this might have something to do with when you guys fought Frost and Volpe?"

"Maybe, but why would a ghost attack us over that? They were trying to kill ghosts!"

"What are you asking me for? I wasn't there," Tucker rubbed his head, "Man, my head just will not stop hurting! It's like I banged it on something!" Sam rolled her eyes.

"We really need to be on the lookout now," she said, "Dash and some other kids almost recognised you and Lancer called your parents in to investigate."

"Great, more good news," he opened the door to his house, where he found his dad had left the T.V. on.

"Bad news strikes Amity!" the reporter was shouting, "Casper High School was closed down today due to ghosts! The city is haunted! Flee for your lives!" he ran out screaming. The weatherman walked on camera.

"Uh...we'll be back as soon as we can either calm him down or get a replacement," the screaming could still be heard.

"And even more good news," he grimaced. The slash marks hurt whenever his torso moved even a bit.

"You'd better take care of that," Tucker yawned, throwing himself down on the couch, "I'll keep an eye on...the news for..." he was out again.

"He wasn't doing anything important with his dad last night," Sam muttered, "He was watching sci-fi movies!" Danny sighed.

"Could you help me out with..." she nodded. They went to the lab, where there was a first-aid kit.

---

"There was something weird about the ghost fighting that weird thing," Dash was tossing a football up in the air as he headed home with his jock gang, "I know I've seen him before!"

"Did you see his hair!?" one of them said, "He was a kid, but it was like an old guy's hair!"

"And the way it was styled," Paulina and some other popular girls were with them, "Disgusting! What kind of loser goes out in public like that!"

"I know that he goes to our school," Dash mumbled, tossing the football to Qwan, "I don't know who he is, and I don't know how I know that he goes to our school, but I know!"

"Maybe it's because he appeared in the hallway when that cat-thing was running around?" someone suggested.

"Whoever he is, he's gonna pay for wrecking that trophy!" Dash slammed his right fisted hand into his left palm, "Wait a minute...You!" he pointed at someone, "Didn't he get slashed in the chest by the cat-thing?"

"Yeah, think so. Why?"

"I know how to find him," Dash grinned smugly, "Find the kid with the cuts, we find the ghost."

"But how can he be a kid and a ghost at the same time?" Dash was about to answer, but didn't have one.

"Uh..." he rubbed the back of his head, not wanting to seem stupid, "I could tell you, but...wouldn't you rather beat it out of him?" the jocks cheered, and Dash breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey Paulina," one of the jocks shouted, "If we can't find him Dash's way, maybe you can find him!"

"How?"

"We can draw up a list of suspects, and you guys can date them and see if they'll crack!"

"No way!" she shouted, "There's no way I'm gonna date some creepy ghost loser!"

"I'll pay you twenty bucks and get you five tickets to that new Dumpty Humpty concert…"

"I'm in."

---

The Oval Office in the White House had been made over to look more old- fashioned since Butch Hartman had become president. It looked as much like a room from the 1950s as he could get it. President Hartman was now pouring himself and Conrad glasses of water, the former general sitting across from the President's chair at the desk.

"This whole thing must be red meat to Ken Bruce," Hartman handed Conrad his glass and sat down, "And I'm afraid that there's far more superstition in this government now thanks to this incident than you and I would like to admit."

Conrad nodded, "That security tape came right from our control room, and Bruce was the only one of use not to take shelter. Unless the ghosts wanted to commit suicide, Bruce is the one who took it, but I can't prove it. He says he's missing some old files of Frost's we locked up."

"Y'know anything about the ghosts that attacked you?"

"One of them showed up in Amity Park today. Got fought off by a ghost-child. We have some reports on him and he's mentioned in the files that got stolen. They were probably after him. Frost's files told us who he is, though I haven't revealed the information to anyone yet. But I don't think that's the reason you called me here, Mr. President, now is it?"

"No," Hartman sighed, "It's not. Gary, I don't think we can hold back extremists like Frost and Bruce for much longer. With this incident, public fear and superstition's taken over paranormal science. Problems like this one in Amity only add fuel to the fire. Politicians almost always move in favour of what they think the public want, and right now what the public wants is obvious. They want to be safe from ghosts. We can't always see things from the big picture. Why were certain people enslaved and persecuted? Why were certain people hunted down and massacred? Because they were different, and the large majority didn't understand them. This is even worse. Ghosts are the spirits of human beings, and you know that better than anyone. People can't see that. Ghost stories overrule fact. People like Frost and Bruce are gonna use this to their advantage."

"You think that we're going to have some state of emergency or war on ghosts, don't you?"

"Yes. I'll veto anything they throw at me, but they can just pass it over my veto. And Bruce is gonna try and get power in Paranormalics now. We need to fight him as long as we can, but the most important thing is that you stay in charge of that department," Conrad sighed, setting his glass down and nodding.

"I don't think I can for much longer, Mr. President," he said, "But I'm not leaving that office without the best fight I can give him."

---

Danny was sitting on his bed, trying not to yell. Sam was finishing tying the bandages around him, covering up the panther-ghost's slashes, and anytime the pressure on them changed, it hurt.

"That should do it," Sam said.

"Thanks," he said, slowly standing up and putting his shirt back on, "Now I just need to fake that I'm fine and I've got nothing to worry about."

"Danny!" he heard his mom shouting, "Danny? Mr. Lancer said you'd been hurt, so we came to check on you! Are you alright?" Danny sighed before calling back.

"Yeah, I'm fine! When the trophy case was shattered I got a pretty big cut! It's fine, we cleaned it up, nothing to worry about!"

"You sure?" it was his dad's voice now.

"Yes!"

"Well as long as you're alright...back to Casper High!" Danny heard the sound of the door being broken down…again.

"Jazz and Mom aren't gonna be too happy about that."

---

Dash had called an emergency meeting of every jock and popular girl in his grade to discuss the issue of the ghost that wrecked his trophy. Most of them gathered in the living room; two were upstairs, looking through the yearbook. Dash and company were awaiting the results. One of them came out.

"Well?" Dash asked.

"Seven suspects. William Fischer, Evan Vanderpool, Jason Parker, Joshua Miles, Eric Mayo, Michael Williamson, and Danny Fenton."

"Fenton..." Dash muttered, "I never gave him that beating I promised! I'll take care of him, and you guys can divide up the other dweebs."

"But since he's a ghost, couldn't the wounds heal immediately and not leave any kind of mark?" someone suggested.

"We've thought of that," Dash was tossing a football against the wall and catching it, "Paulina and the other guys can date the suspects and get them to crack!"

"No way!" one of them said, "Especially not that Fischer guy! He's pale, never talks, and likes things from the 1930s!"

"Get over it," Dash said, "You date him!"

"I'd rather get stuck with him than Jason Parker! That kid thinks he's soooooooo smart! He's a spoiled brat!"

"Then you get him. Paulina, you already went to a dance with Fenton, so you can get him!"

"Oh, no!" Paulina shouted, "I only did that because I thought I was stealing him from that Goth geek Manson!"

"Huh? Oh, you mean Fenton's girlfriend," Dash said, "Well, do it anyway! Maybe his girlfriend knows and the anger will get to her! And call up Valerie."

"Why? She's not popular anymore."

"She's startin' to like Foley and from what I hear, she has it in for ghosts. We need her. Someone else give the orders now, I'm takin' a shower," he headed upstairs.

---

Danny lay in bed, asleep. It was 10:00 at night. His breathing was heavy and sweat was coming down his face as the rain began to fall outside. In his nightmare, it was black with green fog. He saw himself as Danny Phantom. His first battle with Skulker, his fight with Vlad, Volpe strangling him and The Box Ghost flying around shouting "beware!" Then it changed. He was Danny Fenton. The accident in the lab, the school dance with Sam, the time Dash invited him to his party, and his and Sam's dance at Frost's Halloween party. The memories ceased, and the two sides of Danny appeared. Danny Phantom was flying towards them from the left; Danny Fenton from the right. They flew at each other, colliding. The two were struggling for supremacy over the space, falling downwards into the bottomless pit of black and fog. Both started screaming, still battling it out. All the times Dash had come after Fenton, all the times Lancer had come down on him…flashes of these events began to appear. Any time a ghost had gotten the better of Phantom…these events appeared as well, battling with Fenton's memories, just as the two bodies were doing. They hit the bottom, although you could never see that it was the bottom, shattering into shreds of glass. Danny woke up in a flash, gasping for breath and covered in sweat. As he slowly calmed down, he looked out the window. It was raining, but not as heavily as last night. He collapsed back into bed, still exhausted from his nightmare. He managed to fall asleep again. Outside on the street, Velkan sat on a glowing ghost horse, looking up at Danny's home as the first bolt of lightning of that night flashed across the sky. He turned the horse around and galloped down the street.


	4. Ghost Watch

Danny walked down the halls of the school next day, observing everyone. The school had been re-opened when his dad couldn't find any ghosts, but everyone was more afraid than ever. Besides Tucker, Sam and himself, he doubted that anyone didn't have a good-luck charm on. Even more symbols had been put up around the school, repairmen working on the hole in the roof under another cloudy sky. More murmuring was going around, and several kids hadn't shown up at all. About the only one who remained calm besides Danny and his friends was Mr. Lancer. Danny's thoughts were changed abruptly when Dash grabbed him and slammed him up against some lockers. Both of his arms hit the slash marks on Danny's chest. He wanted to scream, but managed to keep from looking more stunned than usual during one of Dash's attacks.

"Hey, Fenton," Dash snarled; he seemed particularly vicious today, "Gloomy day outside, isn't it?"

"Uh, yes, it is!" Danny agreed, "It's been like this the last two days but still, it's gloomy..." he smiled weakly.

"Probably gonna rain," Dash pressed Danny against the lockers harder, "My game's probably gonna be cancelled."

"Oh, yes! I'm sorry about that, but since there's nothing I can do about it, why don't I just l..."

"Speaking of games, Fenton," Dash let go of Danny with one hand to make a fist, "I'm pretty upset about that ghost wrecking my trophy. I'm thinkin' he goes to this school!"

"What? The cat-thing? C-Come on, Dash!" Danny was getting really nervous now; it seemed like he and Dash were the only ones in the hallway, "Don't you think we would have..."

"I meant the other ghost," Dash wasn't laughing, "And as I recall, the cat- thing gave him a bad cut across his chest!"

"What? You seriously think I..." Dash hit Danny in the chest as hard as he could. Danny managed to suppress the scream in his throat, instead grimacing through clenched teeth as he would have if he didn't have those cuts. Dash hit him three more times, and each time the pain grew worse. But Danny managed to hold it back.

"_Darn it!_" Dash threw Danny aside, "That leaves all seven as duds!" he marched away. Danny slowly stood back up. Thankfully, his cuts hadn't started to bleed again.

"OK, the bad news," he said to himself, "Dash is angry over a stupid trophy and suspects me. The good news: he didn't find out," the bell rang, and he slowly got up and headed for his own locker.

---

"And so, class," Mr. Lancer was saying, "In light of yesterday's events, Mr. Fenton has kindly offered us the use of his Ghost Catcher," Danny hadn't been really been paying attention until he heard that.

"We've made a space for it so it can be mounted like the rose windows of old cathedrals. It's waiting outside the room and I'd like to have two volunteers to take it upstairs," no one raised their hands, "Mr. Fenton!"

"Huh?"

"This is your father's device, so surely you would know all about it."

"Well actually, my dad hasn't really..."

"It's settled then. Ms. Manson, you can assist him," they both got up and started to wheel the Ghost Catcher down the hallway. Sam noticed that Danny was staying as far away from it as he could while still helping to move it.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked.

"Last time I got too close to this thing I got split in two."

"Huh?" that didn't make sense.

"I went through it, and then Danny Fenton fell to the floor and Danny Phantom was still flying around in the air. I came back together, but this has been high on my list of things to avoid ever since."

"Oh," she stuck her hand through it; nothing happened, "So this thing can catch that cat-ghost if it comes back?"

"Probably, but I doubt it's stupid enough to jump right through it," they got it upstairs to the workmen who were supposed to install it.

"Hold it there," one of them said as they started to leave, "Your teacher called up to say you's were coming to drop the thing off. Says you's the son of the guy who made this, right?"

"Uh, yeah, but..."

"Would ya' mind helpin' us out with it then?" Danny sighed and walked over to help them set in the space that had been carved out to make room for it.

"Steadyyyyyyyyy..." someone was saying, "Steady..._watch out, kid!_" it accidentally tipped over, about to fall on Danny, who dropped to the floor as fast as he could. Fortunately, the top of the Ghost Catcher hit the wall, so it didn't land on Danny and separate him again.

"You OK, kid?"

"Besides my heart rate...yeah."

---

At lunch, Tucker looked even more tired.

"I don't understand it," he yawned, "I couldn't fall asleep last night. I didn't watch any TV, counted sheep, drank warm milk...nothing worked! I don't get it!" Sam rolled her eyes as Tucker fell face-first into his sandwich.

"So your dad built that thing why?" she asked Danny, changing the subject.

"He and Mom were sick and they thought it was a ghost virus," Danny shrugged, "It's on my list of things to avoid, but it did come in handy when Tuck got turned into a ghost. I'm not really worried about that as much as I'm worried about Dash."

"Dash?" this was the first Sam had heard of it, "Why are you worried about Dash?"

"Besides the bullying?" was what Tucker meant to say, but with his face still in his sandwich, all that came out was "Mresides rhe rulling?"

"He's upset over that dumb trophy and he knows the ghost that wrecked it goes to this school."

"Rhe mrat-mring?"

"No, me! And I'm one of his suspects!"

"Mrid mre..."

"No. Not yet, anyway," Danny sighed and propped his head up with his hands.

"This has not been our best week," Sam commented, and both Danny and Tucker agreed.

---

"I overheard Dash talking with his jock pals," Sam said as the three walked down the hallway, Tucker eating the sandwich now, "They have seven suspects, and you're one of them," she pointed at Danny, "They couldn't find out if anyone had been cut by the cat-ghost. Now they're gonna try to get whoever the ghost is to confess."

"Do you know how they're gonna try that?"

"Well..." Sam didn't seem like she wanted to talk about it, "Yeah, but..."

"How?"

"They're...they're having popular girls date them and try and get them to crack," she said quickly.

"Who'd they get to date Danny?" Tucker asked through bites of his sandwich. They could tell Sam_ definitely_ did not want to talk about this.

"They got..."

"Yoo-hoo! Danny!" they heard someone shout.

"_Paulina,_" Sam hissed under her breath.

"Hi, you!" Paulina walked over to Danny, who was nervously smiling, and not because of his normal reasons when Paulina was around.

"Uh, hi. Look, I can't really talk right now because..."

"You're busy?" she was trying to look as alluring as possible, "With what?"

"Well, I...that is," Mr. Lancer walked up.

"Mr. Fenton! I'd hate to interrupt, but could I see you in my office for a moment?"

"Yes! Of course!" Danny smiled weakly at Paulina again before heading off to Mr. Lancer's office, closing the door and breathing a sigh of relief. Mr. Lancer eyed him strangely.

"Don't ask," Danny said.

"Very well. Have a seat," Mr. Lancer motioned to the chair across from him by his desk, "Danny, I must tell you that I'm concerned for you and your friends in light of these ghost incidents."

"You are?"

"Well...you know what your parents do, right?" Danny nodded, "I can't imagine them being well-liked among paranormal beings. Seeing as how that strange ghost yesterday was after Ms. Manson, I'm worried that you may become the victim of the principle 'guilty by association.'"

"Oh," Danny was shocked; he had never seen Mr. Lancer express concern for any student, save maybe Dash, Jazz, and a few other star students, "Well, thanks, but I wouldn't worry about it. My dad's got plenty of stuff to protect us with."

"Well, as long as you feel safe in the school. Now we can move to the other topic, more in line with my expertise; your grades," he went from concerned to stern in no time at all, "Over the last few months they've gone from Bs and Cs to D- and falling. What's going on, Mr. Fenton?" Danny didn't have an excuse.

"Well, I've...it's just...y'see...I've been...kinda busy. And it has nothing to do with my social life, because you've seen that I have no social life whatsoever."

"True. However, that still does not change the fact that your grades are in decline. Do you know how much this next test is worth, Mr. Fenton?"

"Not really..."

"Well I don't think I have the heart to tell you. If you get anything lower than a D on this test, I'm afraid you could be looking at having to repeat my English class next year..."

"WHAT!?"

"Unless you keep your grades up the rest of the year or attend summer school," he looked over some papers, "I would suggest studying extensively for this test."

"How extensively?"

"All night," he put the papers away, "Thank you, Mr. Fenton. You're free to go," Danny left the room, sighing.

"Superstitious fear towards ghosts going around, Dash trying to find out about my powers, his using Paulina to get information, strange cat-ghosts, my normal ghost-catching and now this test. I don't know how this day could possibly get any..."

"Danny I need you help me out," Jazz ran up, "This whole place has gone nuts because of that cat that was in here yesterday. Everyone thinks it's a ghost! I need you to pass around this pamphlets and keep Mom and Dad out of here!" she ran off. Danny read the pamphlet. It said, "The Cat was not a Ghost."

"Yep," he sighed, throwing them way, "It just got worse."

---

Danny sat in his room, looking over all of his notes for Mr. Lancer's English class. School had only been out a few minutes, but it seemed like he'd been looking at this stuff for hours. He, Sam and Tucker had agreed not to go out ghost-hunting until an hour later than normal, but that put his 10:00 curfew harder to met. Now some strange bell sound was coming from the street.

"Danny!" his dad shouted, "Where's that noise coming from!?"

"Outside," Jack ran into Danny's room, looking out the window, "You! Who the heck are you and why are you making all that racket!?"

"I am the Ghost Watch! It is my job to watch for ghosts tonight and alert the neighbourhood if I see one!" Danny felt his pencil slip from his hand.

"Oh! Well then, carry on! If you see anything I'll be out faster than you can say Yorktown!" Jack headed downstairs, and Danny grabbed his phone, dialling an number quickly.

"Sam? We've got trouble."

---

It had started to rain and storm for the third night in a row. Danny flew just over the ground, phasing through all the rain. Sam had an umbrella and her leather coat; Tucker had an umbrella and the Fenton Thermos.

"Bring 'em on!" he was shouting, "I'm wide awake!"

"Finally," Sam muttered. They stopped as Danny flew higher and circled the block a few times.

"Nothing around here," he said. They had decided not to look for ghosts in their neighbourhood or by the seaport. If they had gone by the seaport they might have caught The Box Ghost, but they figured that there was as much anti-ghost stuff there as there was at school, and a place as crowded as the seaport was not a wise place to be. As they headed down another street; an older one, one of the few that still had a brick road; blue ectoplasmic smoke came from Danny's mouth.

"Where is he!?" Tucker was jumping around, "Bring him on!"

"Shhh!" Danny and Sam said at once. They could hear the sound of a horse walking. An eerie green glow appeared up ahead. There was a ghost horse and a ghost rider, the horse giving off the glow. The rider looked like Orlando Bloom at the end of the movie _Pirates of the Caribbean_. The rain fell right through him and his horse as he reached for something on his belt. He pulled out a ghost-pistol and fired it at Danny, who barely dodged. The rider took off down the street, Danny right behind him. The rider got off the brick road and headed up towards Danny's neighbourhood. Danny tried to get in front of him and force him to turn a different direction, but the horse was fast. The rider and horse suddenly phased through the road, disappearing underground, while Danny flew into plain sight of the Ghost Watch. The only consolation was that this wasn't his exact street.

"Ghost!" the Ghost Watch shouted, "Ghost! Ghost! Ghost, there's a ghost on the street!" he took off running, shouting at the top of his lungs and ringing a bell as loud as he could. The lights all over the neighbourhood went on. Danny didn't stick around for people to start coming out. He flew off, checking the clock tower. It was 9:53. He flew faster, but the word had gotten around quick. Some people started throwing things at him as he flew around, trying to dodge other things. He saw Mr. Lancer run out, in awe. Even worse, he saw Dash.

"Hey!" he heard Dash shout, "That's the ghost that wrecked my trophy! Get back here!" Danny took off down another street, Dash coming up from behind. Danny flew well above the ground, but he couldn't go home with Dash following him.

"Come down here, ya' wimp!" Dash jumped up, trying to grab hold of Danny's ghost-tail. The shouting continued for a while, then suddenly stopped. Danny looked back to see that Dash had been knocked on his back, a black umbrella lying on top of him. Sam and Tucker had immediately gotten out of sight, thankfully. Danny checked the clock again; 10:00.

"Oh, man," he stopped abruptly as he reached his street. Sam and Tucker were there, talking to Danny's parents.

"Kids, what in the world are you doing out here on these ghost-infested streets at 10:00 at night!?"

"Oh," Tucker didn't have an excuse, "We...uh,"

"Heard the Ghost Watch and came to get you guys!" Sam smiled weakly.

"Oh. Well, did you see Danny? He's still not back from his walk..." Danny flew down behind a building, made sure no one was looking, and went back to normal, walking back.

"What's with the noise?" he asked.

"I don't know, but there'll be more noise once we take care of that ghost," Jack eyed Danny suspiciously, "You're late again! You know your curfew and you know that these streets are infested with ghosts!"

"But..."

"No buts! Get inside! When I take care of that ghost, we're going to have a discussion."

"I have a..."

"Save it!" Jack ran off with Maddie, and Danny sighed.

"This can't be good," he walked inside, Sam and Tucker heading home. Watching from the street corner was Velkan.


	5. Can we go on?

The next day on the bus, Danny looked terrible. His hair was messed up and he had bags under his eyes.

"Rough night?" Tucker looked even more tired than Danny.

"My dad ranted on for about a half-hour before getting to the point, which took another half-hour. Then I had to study for the test and that took about three hours. I fell asleep at about 2:30 and woke up at 5 from a nightmare. Now I'm probably gonna flunk that test and take that English class all over again!"

"Dude, calm down," Tucker said, "It's not like our entire grade depends on this test."

---

"Our entire grade depends on this test!?" Tucker shouted.

"Surprise, surprise, Mr. Foley," Mr. Lancer set the test down on his desk, "Perhaps it would pay to pay attention when I warn you about tests a week in advance next time."

"But I didn't study!" Tucker shouted as Mr. Lancer walked away, "I can't study when I have energy and I couldn't fall asleep last night! Again!"

"Class, you have the entire hour to complete this test," Mr. Lancer said calmly, "Pay no mind to the noise coming from the workmen finishing the repairs to the roof. Begin."

---

The bell rang, "Class, your time is up," Mr. Lancer collected the papers, "You will all get them back tomorrow except Mr. Fenton," Danny looked up, still tired, "I'd like to see you after class again," Danny sighed. He was sure that his test was going to get an E or worse.

"Come on, Danny," Sam tried to cheer him up, "All you have to do is keep your grades up the rest of the year and work your plans out better! Besides, we don't even know what your grade is yet!"

"Well if it's below a D, I'm really in trouble," they walked into the lunch room, "And with all the anti-ghost problems and these weird new ghosts, working things out probably isn't going to work that well," they got their lunches and headed over to their usual table.

"I wonder why Mr. Lancer wants...to...see...you af-ter..." he yawned and fell face-first into his turkey sandwich, asleep. Danny yawned.

"Please tell me you're not falling asleep and falling face-first into your food," Sam moaned.

"Nah, I can stay awake," Danny started eating.

---

"You wanted to see me, Mr. Lancer?" Danny walked in.

"Mr. Fenton, I just finished grading your test..." Mr. Lancer didn't look up from the paper in his hand.

"And..." Danny feared the worst.

"C-," Mr. Lancer handed it to him, "You've managed to avoid being held back," Danny breathed a sigh of relief.

"So does that mean I can go?" he asked.

"No, not yet. That wasn't what I wanted to talk about. Danny, this hasn't been as much of a problem as your grades, but every now and then you come to school looking completely exhausted, like today," Danny looked over himself; he _did_ look tired, "And I keep finding you slammed in lockers and getting your arm caught in things. In the last school physical, you had no serious injuries but were reported to have at least 15 large bruises and scars on your right side and left shoulder. Would you care to explain this? Wait, no..." he pulled out his book, "I mean, 'what's up with that?'" Danny wanted to comment on his teacher's using that book, but decided it wasn't the best idea.

"I...I have insomnia, and..." he thought for a second, "I have...bullying problems."

"Bullying problems? With whom?"

"Well, see, I can't prove it, and I don't really think that you'd believe me, which is why I haven't..."

"I guarantee you that I will look into the matter no matter who you name."

"Well...Dash Baxter," Mr. Lancer stared at him for a minute.

"I must admit I do find that hard to believe," he pulled out Dash's records, "But I will look into it, rest assured. Thank you for coming by, Mr. Fenton, that will be all," Danny headed out, tired but relieved.

---

Danny, Sam and Tucker were hanging out at the same mall they were at in "Parental Bonding," having a snack in the food court. Tucker and Danny were still tired, but Danny had started to wake up.

"Looks like school problems are over," Sam commented.

"And hopefully Dash problems soon," Danny nodded, "To help with the ghost problems I've started carrying some stuff in my backpack. I've got the Fenton Thermos and the Fenton Fisher with me," none of them noticed that Dash was watching them like a spy from inside a shop at the food court, a walkie-talkie in hand He was too far back to hear anything, but had his eyes on them like a hawk.

"All-Star to Far North. All-Star to Far North. Do you copy, over?"

"I still don't get why we have to do this!" Qwan's voice said over the walkie- talkie.

"Paulina baled on us and Fischer doesn't date, so we can't get the info that way," Dash whispered, "I'm covering Fenton. Do not let anything distract you," two hot girls walked in, and Dash noticed them, "I'll call you back." As he left his post to talk to the girls, blue ectoplasmic smoke came from Danny's mouth.

"Oh no," he looked around. All the windows in the entire mall shattered, sending glass flying and throwing everyone into chaos. Outside the window, one could see at least ten pirate ghosts flying around the streets of Amity, causing havoc. They then all turned their attention to the mall, flying in through the windows and terrifying the people. Although Danny couldn't see him, Velkan was riding through the streets on his horse, freaking everyone out and heading toward the mall himself. And, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, was the panther-ghost. Velkan stopped just short of entering the parking lot of the mall, watching the panther-ghost phase through the roof. Underneath the shadow from his hat, he smirked.

"Let the mayhem begin."

---

"Uh, Danny," Tucker watched the ghosts fly around the mall, "Anytime you want to go ghost, that'd be fine with me. Danny? Danny?" he was gone. Neither Tucker nor Sam noticed the panther-ghost coming up from behind them. Before it could attack Sam, however, it got kicked across the mall. Danny floated in the air, forming two energy blasts to fire at a large ghost harassing the people in an Abyss store. Dash looked around from his spot.

"The ghost that wrecked my trophy's here, but I don't see Fenton! Can you see Parker?"

"Who cares!? _RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!_" Dash dropped the walkie-talkie and ran out. Danny was surrounded by five of the ten ghosts (excluding the panther-ghost). He knocked all of them off their feet, catching them off-guard. These ghosts were definitely well seasoned in combat, but Danny managed to fight them on even terms. After having been constantly beaten by Volpe and Sam's possessed form, he'd started to actually learn martial arts and real fighting. Soon he had overcome four of the ghosts, the other one flying down to the bottom floor. Danny followed.

"He's on the move!" Dash picked up the walkie-talkie and headed downstairs as fast as he could. Danny had the one other ghost on the run, chasing him out of the building. He wasn't prepared to phase through anything and wasn't far off the ground. Dash tackled him from behind.

"Alright, ghost-kid! Who the heck," Danny phased through his grip and into the floor, "...are you?" he got up on his knees, scratching his head.

"Qwan?" he said into the walkie-talkie, "You still there?"

"Yeah…" Qwan sounded very shaky.

"Call in Valerie."

---

Sam opened Danny's backpack and tossed the Fenton Thermos to Tucker, "Take that to Danny!"

"Right," Tucker grabbed it and ran down the stairs. Sam pulled out the Fenton Fisher. The panther-ghost came up right in front of her, pinning her down by her shoulders. Unfortunately for it, she could still move her arms. She wrapped the fishing line around the ghost's neck and pried it off her, wrapping it up in the line and holding on to the handle as hard as she could. The ghost started leaping around in a fury, trying to get lose. It accidentally hit its head on a wall, forgetting to phase through it. It collapsed off the ground, the fur falling off it and the line loosening around its body. An ordinary ghost stood up.

"Young lady," he said, "If you see a cat around here, please get rid of..." he sneezed, and vanished, leaving Sam utterly confused.

---

Danny caught the Fenton Thermos as Tucker threw it to him, flying outside to meet the ten ghosts. None of them were inside the mall anymore, and the panther-ghost was nowhere to be seen. For the first time in four days, the sun started to come out. Danny looked around; he only saw five ghosts. He got the Fenton Thermos ready, but before he could catch a ghost, it was kicked out of his hand and hit Tucker in the head. Whoever it was that knocked it away kicked Danny hard in the face, knocking him into the parking lot. Danny flipped back on his feet, flying up to take on whoever had hit. He did not notice Velkan, who sat calmly on his horse, watching. Before Danny was a girl in a pink jump suit on a surfboard, with a large ectoplasmic cannon.

"Great," Danny sighed, "Just what I need."

"Remember me, ghost-boy?" Valerie said mockingly, her cannon raised.

"Yeah. Did you notice the ten ghosts surrounding us?"

"They're next!" she fired a shot, but it missed Danny's head by about two feet.

"Still working on the weapons?" Danny smiled slightly.

"I've got a new one," she tossed the cannon aside and drew out an ectoplasmic sabre. The pirate ghosts did the same. As the ten ghosts and Valerie charged, he flew upwards, managing to take one of the swords. Caught by surprise and more severely outnumbered than before, Danny was finding it harder to fight back. He also had to worry about people seeing him now that they were out in the streets. He tried to keep the fight as high in the air as he could, but the force of some of the blows he took made that hard. The battles soon moved to the rooftops of buildings, everyone jumping and flying around from one to the other. Dash and his jock friends ran out the mall, all of them holding cameras.

"Just try and take pictures of the rat who wrecked my trophy!" Dash ordered. All of them held up their cameras, taking pictures of the fights as fast as they could without really focusing. Danny was too busy trying to fight off the ten ghosts and Valerie to notice, but Velkan and Sam did. Before Sam could do anything, Velkan charged over on his horse, sending Dash and his jock pals fleeing. He made sure to chase them all away before turning his attention back to the battle. Danny had been knocked back into the mall, crashing down by Sam and Tucker.

"Here!" Sam gave him the thermos.

"Thanks," he phased through the ceiling. Not wanting to lose the thermos again, he strapped it to his back. He stayed in his phasing form until he had reached the rooftop, crouching down behind a generator. As one of the ghosts flew by searching for him, he opened the thermos, trapping the ghost in its blue tractor beam. Soon he had another ghost caught. Then two more. Then one more. Being sure to use surprise and move around as much as possible, he managed to get all ten caught, closing the lid.

"Whew!" he wiped some sweat off his forehead. He still hadn't noticed Velkan, who drew a ghost-pistol from his belt, aiming it at the Fenton Thermos. He shot the strap holding it to Danny's back before taking off on his horse. Danny barely managed to grab it before it hit the ground.

"You're gonna pay for that!" he took off as fast as he could after Velkan, but his horse seemed even faster than last night. He just barely managed to stay close enough to follow them. When they phased through the road again, Danny did likewise.

"C'mon," he was telling himself, "Faster!" Velkan flew up above the surface again, with Danny gaining on him. He turned at a sharp corner, and when Danny got up there, he had vanished.

"Where'd he go?" Danny felt a hard blow make contact with his back, knocking him forward and sending the Fenton Thermos flying. As it hit the ground, the RELEASE button was triggered, sending the ten ghosts flying into the ground. Velkan had disappeared once more. Valerie flew up on her surfboard right in front of Danny.

"How you doing, ghost-boy?" she asked in a mock-concerned voice, "I hope you're uncomfortable."

"Nice," Danny said bitterly, standing up, "Too bad you don't get your remarks from where you get your weapons," he fired an ectoplasmic blast at her, knocking her and the surfboard far down the street.

"Well, that's out of the way," but Danny had more immediate problems now. The ghosts had brought that whole part of the city outside, and they were now all staring at Danny. He quickly grabbed the Fenton Thermos and phased through the ground, reappearing at the mall. He grabbed Tucker and Sam, went invisible, and flew off.

---

They landed in his dad's lab, where Danny collapsed on the floor, out of breath.

"Omigosh!" he heard Sam shout, "I can't believe I forgot about this! Danny, you have to get to Dash's house now!"

"What are you crazy!?" Danny turned around, slowly getting up and leaning against the wall.

"He and his friends were taking pictures of your fight trying to figure out who you were! That ghost on the horse chased them off but they still got plenty of..."

"WHAT!?" Danny flew off again, leaving Sam and Tucker in the lab.

---

As Danny had feared, most of Dash's friends had digital cameras, so the pics could already be viewed by the time he got there. Dash and all his friends were gathered around Dash's computer, going through all the pics. Most of them were taken in such a rush that they were hard to see (Danny's moving around a lot while fighting helped to blur them as well).

"Man!" Dash banged his desk, "These pics are worthless! How am I supposed to beat up on the guy who wrecked my trophy if we can't figure out who he is!?"

"We've still got my camera to look over," Qwan up his camera.

"Give me that," Dash yanked it out of his hand greedily and set it up. They started going through the pics, Danny watching in invisible form with increased nervousness.

"Worthless...worthless..." Dash was muttering, "worthless...hold it!" he stopped at one pic. It was a bit blurry, but Danny could be seen clearly if they zoomed in.

"Wow! Smooth, Qwan!" Dash grabbed his mouse, "Now we just need to zoom in..." Danny looked around frantically for something to distract Dash with before remembering. He opened Dash's closet, letting all his pink and purple teddy bears fall out. Dash heard the noise, and raced over to the closet.

"What was that?" Qwan asked.

"Nothing," Dash was holding the closet door shut, smiling nervously. All the jocks were distracted now, giving Danny the freedom to fly over to Dash's computer.

"Really, what was it?"

"Nothing! Don't ask about it," Dash was getting defensive.

"Let me see," Qwan tried to push Dash out of the way.

"It's _my _closet!" Danny closed the program and took Qwan's camera. Someone noticed.

"Whoa!" the jock jumped back, "Your computer is haunted!"

"What!?" Dash ran over, shoving Qwan out of the way.

"Time to go," Danny muttered quietly to himself, flying out the window. All the jocks (including Qwan, who forgot about Dash's closet) tried to grab the levitating camera, but it was no use.

---

Tucker erased the pictures from the camera.

"All you have to do now is slip it back in his locker at school tomorrow," Sam said.

"Right," Danny was still breathing a little more heavy than normal. It had been quite an afternoon, "That was quite a day."

"Look at it this way," Sam said comfortingly, "If a week gets this mad by Wednesday, it can't get any worse!"

---

Danny fell back through the wall of the warehouse, skidding across the dock. It had been two days since the incident at the mall. Now there were no clouds at all in the sky, clear, seasonal weather taking over. Unfortunately for Danny, there was no time to enjoy it. The past two days had been a complete disaster for him. The pirate ghosts were rampaging all over the city, Danny having to fight them off and not send everyone into a panic. That proved impossible to do, as everyone seemed to regard him as another evil ghost, not noticing that he was fighting the other ones off. Valerie had started up her ghost hunting again, and she seemed determined to capture him before she touched another ghost. Dash was still spying on him, in school and out, and Lancer and the other teachers had been piling up the homework. With all this and keeping an eye on the anti-ghost campaign on the news, he hadn't been able to get a good night's sleep since Wednesday. He was up until almost 3:00 almost every night, having to wake up at 7. The nightmares didn't help. It felt like his life was ending up the way his nightmares kept ending up; Fenton and Phantom's worlds colliding and destroying each other. He certainly looked the worse for wear, huge bags under his eyes, his face looking tired and haggard, and his hair even more of a mess than usual. If it weren't for the fact that the fight had been dragged down to the seaport, he wouldn't even have been there, knowing the crowds.

"Did I not say that you would face the corrugated cardboard vengeance of The Box Ghost!?" the little nimrod was smiling stupidly.

"Look, can we do this some other time? If you haven't noticed, there's been more than a little commotion about ghosts recently," he pointed to two people running by, screaming that they had seen a ghosts, causing Danny to sigh, "More good news."

"Delay my..."

"Corrugated cardboard vengeance?"

"Uh, yeah, that thing you have said! Delay it even longer?! I will do no such thing, for I am The Bo..."

"Sam, will you please just throw me the thermos?" Sam walked out of the warehouse that Danny had been in before being thrown out and tossed the thermos to him. He caught The Box Ghost, took him back to the Ghost Portal, and released him into the ghost-zone before collapsing on the floor. Tucker, who had been waiting in the lab, didn't notice.

"Ah, Friday!" he was eating potato chips, "The first day in a while that I haven't been drop-dead tired and the end of the school week. Plus, tonight's the night the three of us stay here for the all-night pirate movie marathon sleepover!"

"We didn't plan on a marathon!" Sam protested, "Especially not one involving pirates!"

"I saw it on TV Guide, and I'm watchin' it!" Danny didn't pay attention to Tucker. He was too worn out. Sam noticed.

"Y'know Danny, if you wanted to just get a good night's sleep, we can do this some other..."

"No, I'm fine," he got up slowly, "I'll be in my room for a sec. Tuck, start setting up for the sleep over."

"Yes sir!" Tucker raced to the living room while Danny slowly headed towards his room.

----

"Mr. Bruce, you've been with Paranormalics since the organisation was formed. What are your opinions on how it's effectiveness has changed since General Conrad took over?" it was a live television hearing. News about what had happened in the mall in Amity Park had spread like wildfire. Conrad and the President refused to comment or attending the hearing, but Bruce and some extremist politicians were more than willing to discuss the problems.

"General Conrad," Bruce began, "Is a very good man. But he cannot handle paranormal activities in the same effective manner that he once handled the United States Army. He, the President, and many from their party fail to realise the dangers posed by ghosts. They think of them as still human, albeit dead ones. They are no longer human. They are forever changed by the forces of the paranormal, and they exist to haunt, terrify, and cause mayhem. This was made obvious to the nation by the assassination attempt on Conrad's life, and even in light of that he refuses to see the truth. These incidents from Amity clearly show that the paranormal are not to be taken lightly. Their "Public Ghost Enemy # 1" as the mayor put it was among the ghosts spotted Wednesday. I applaud the young lady who was seen trying to fight off these menaces. Ladies and gentlemen, an argument put forth in this debate is whether or not to treat this ghost problem as superstition or science. Both are the answer. Yes, it must be treated as a science, but the superstitious fear, what we think that ghosts will do, they will do. I do not feel that Conrad's remaining in charge of Paranormalics is best for our country."

"Are you suggesting that someone such as Sarah Frost should take over?" someone shouted out.

"Sarah Frost was a corrupt extremist, and took this matter over the edge," Bruce resumed after a pause, "But she had a plan for action. That's what we need now, and Conrad is not delivering..." the President turned off the T.V., moving to face Conrad.

"He's good," he dropped the remote.

"And unless you use the 'guilty-by-association' principle, he's clean. Or at least that's what evidence says."

"His speech stirred up everyone so much they've already got a vote going in Congress," Hartman tossed Conrad a file, "It's on whether or not to have the Supreme Court rule whether or not you stay in office. I've convinced everyone I can to vote against it, but..."

"I know," Conrad dropped the file, finishing off his glass of water, "I got Colonels Fountain and Alcala gathering up as much stuff for me as they can," the President didn't get that, "I don't trust him any more than you do," he nodded to the TV, "And I'm sure he'll do what Frost was planning. I'm not letting that happen, in office or not."

---

"Danny? Danny?" Danny woke up to see Sam standing over him, gently tapping his cheek.

"Ah!" Danny screamed, jumping up and breathing heavily, "Oh…Sam. It's...just you. Whew! Did I doze off there?"

"Pretty much. You OK?" Danny wanted to say yes, but that would be an obvious lie.

"No. All this anti-ghost stuff, the cat-ghost, that guy on horseback, the pirate ghosts, the ones we normally have to catch...it's too much. We've got Dash spying on us, Valerie's on the hunt again, school has a lot of homework, and I've been having this weird nightmare over and over again...Sam, I dunno if I can do all that. If things keep up the way they are, if I keep leading double lives like this I'm going to drive myself insane or work myself to death!" Sam wanted to say that he was being too hard on himself, but she was having worries about all of the things he'd mentioned herself. She didn't say anything. She just put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.


	6. Capture

It was 12:30 in the morning. Danny and Sam, tired of Tucker's pirate movies, had gone upstairs to sleep. Sam took the extra bed in Jazz's room; Danny was in his own room. The nightmare was happening again. He saw Danny Phantom going against Frost's ghost in The Gateway room. Danny Fenton had a sandwich thrown at his head by Dash. Both shattered, colliding with each other and breaking into smaller, sharper pieces. They were all falling towards a giant, open, somewhat familiar hand covered in a black glove. As the pieces fell into it, the hand closed into a fist, apparently unfazed by sharp fragments being caught in its palm. The hand slowly opened again, revealing Danny. He had completely red eyes and Vlad's outfit on, the black parts white and the white parts black. He began to laugh maniacally…and then Danny shot out of bed in a cold sweat.

"What a day," he shook his head, straightening himself out. He decided to head downstairs for a drink of water. Tucker was still in front of the TV, eating popcorn and watching his pirate movies.

"Tucker," Danny sighed, "It's 12:31. Go to sleep."

"Not a chance, man...yeah, alright! Show those pirates!" sighing again, Danny got the water jug out of the fridge. Before he could pour himself a glass, though, blue ectoplasmic smoke drifted out of his mouth.

"Great," he sighed, trying to listen for anything suspicious. He couldn't hear anything over the TV though, "Tucker, will you turn that off!?"

"Huh?" Danny marched over and did it himself, "Hey! What's the big ide..."

"Shhhhhh!" Danny heard something, "Stay here."

---

Jack hadn't looked at the clock since around 8:04, so he had no idea how late it was. He was busy with the latest Fenton gadget.

"Wakeman," he was mumbling, "Comes down on ya like Jackson on New Orleans. Well she hasn't got me out of the Society for Misunderstood Genius Scientists yet, and she'll do that the day that Jack Fenton doesn't believe in ghosts!" he needed all the power in the lab to help charge up this machine, so all the ghosts alarms were off. Consequently, he had no idea that a pirate ghost was coming up from behind.

---

Danny slowly headed down the hall, walking as quietly as possible and listening for any strange ghost sound. He got about three-fourths down the hall before stopping, looking around. There was nothing but eerie silence. Danny suddenly whirled around, changing immediately into ghost form and blasting the spirit behind him with an energy blast.

---

The sound from Danny's blast could be head in the lab.

"What the heck?" Jack then noticed something strange about the room. He looked behind him and saw the ghost, its ghost-dagger raised.

"GHOSTS!" he made a grab for Maddie's small hand-held laser, blasting the ghost in the arm. It's shriek carried across the house, waking up everyone. Outside, ten ghosts, the same ones that had attacked at the mall, had surrounded the house and were flying in through the walls. The panther-ghost was close to the house, leaping off rooftops and making its way over. Far down the street, Velkan was on his way, urging his horse to go faster.

---

"What's going on!?" Jazz shouted as she and Sam came from their room. Maddie was wondering the same thing.

"Jack? Danny?" they saw Jack running up the hall, flapping his arms all over the place and screaming like mad.

"GHOSTS! GHOSTS! **_GHOOOOOOOOOOOOOSTS!!!_**" he kept heading down the hall, Maddie running after him and Sam heading downstairs. Jazz suddenly grew nervous; what if they found out about Danny tonight?!

"Dad, for the last time, there is no such thing as a..." she turned around. An old ghost with a scar down his face was grinning at her, showing his hideously decayed teeth. She fainted, falling into the doorway to her room. The ghost left her there, flying after Jack and Maddie.

---

"Danny!" hearing her shouting, Danny and Tucker turned to face Sam, "What's going on!?"

"The ghosts from the mall here. And that means..." he looked around; the panther-ghost was clinging to the ceiling, looking down on them, "Sam, get down!" Sam barely had time before the panther-ghost leapt off the ceiling and was met by one of Danny's energy blasts.

"Get down to the lab and get any ghost weapons you can find," he ordered Sam and Tucker, "And whatever you do, don't let them get the Fenton Thermos!" they ran towards the lab as the panther-ghost got its wind back, now focused solely on Danny. It jumped down on all fours and charged towards him; Danny flew towards it as fast as he could. They collided in mid-air.

---

"Hurry up, Tucker!" Sam was about three feet ahead of him.

"Hey! You try running away from a weird cat-thing after sitting around watching pirate films for five-and-a-half hours!" Sam rolled her eyes, opening the door to the lab and heading in. Five ghosts were already in there, looting the place. They turned their sights on her (and Tucker, as he came in gasping for breath).

"Attack!" one of them shouted, all five flying forward. Sam ducked and rolled to the side, grabbing the Fenton Thermos; Tucker got tackled.

---

Danny had the panther-ghost on the run. He was chasing it down the halls as it ran on all fours. Danny charged up another energy blast and fired it; the panther-ghost just barely dodged it. He had another one ready, but before he could fire it, a ghost phased through the wall and tackled him, knocking them both into his dad's old study. The panther-ghost looked back and stopped; there was no sign of Danny. Smiling, it jumped off a wall and made its way towards the lab.

---

Danny flew out from under his new opponent, turning to face him.

"Skulker?" he said in disbelief. The armoured ghost smiled evilly.

"Ghost-child," he crossed his arms, "We meet again."

"What are you doing here!?" Danny charged up an energy blast in each hand.

"The Order was in The Ghost-Zone the other day, offering a rich reward for mercenaries who agreed to help them on tonight's little crusade. I took the job."

"The Order? What order?"

"So you don't know. Pity. After all, it's you that they're hunting tonight, ghost-boy," he readied his plasma canon, "Now, it's time for you to..." something beeped on his armour, "Oh, why now!?" he read the message on Tucker's planner.

"I have to go to the zoo, observe the gorilla. _For the millionth time!_" he reluctantly flew off to the zoo. Danny stared up at the ceiling for a minute before heading after the panther-ghost again.

---

Velkan stopped his horse, jumping off and looking up at Danny's house. Judging from the sounds that he could hear, all was going according to plan so far. Now it was time for his move. He pulled a piton gun out of his pocket and fired a rope into the outer wall of the building. He hit a button, which caused the gun to pull up towards the end of the piton, pulling him up towards one of the windows. Jack was heading down the hall towards that window, Maddie covering the other side of the house. Velkan phased through the window, standing in front of Jack.

"Good evening," he nodded, tipping his hat. Jack fired two blasts at him, but he managed to dodge them. From his belt he drew his ghost-pistol, shooting the laser in Jack's hands away and grabbing Jack by the neck with his free hand, "Jack Fenton, is it?"

"The same," Jack squeezed out; for a ghost, this guy sure had a strong grip!

"A ghost-hunter," Velkan nodded, "Both you and your wife. You build these weapons to fight ghosts with and have all sorts of tools designed to send us back to Ghostland."

"You mean The Ghost-Zon..."

"_Don't tell me what it is!_" Velkan pulled Jack closer to his face, "It seems that you and your wife don't realise the reasons why some of us aren't in there!"

"Well..." Jack was finding it harder and harder to breathe.

"Be thankful that for tonight, at least, you are not who I'm after."

"Who?" Jack was almost completely out of air.

"Your son!"

"Danny? Why?"

"So he hasn't told you," Velkan smirked slightly, "Well, I don't blame him," he released Jack, knocked him out, and headed calmly down the hall.

---

Sam had managed to get three ghosts out of the lab with a laser and trap two more in the Fenton Thermos. She had placed the thermos and as many ghost weapons as she could in a backpack and headed upstairs, Tucker having already headed up to see how many ghosts were left in the house. Placing one laser in her pocket, she followed, meeting Danny on her way upstairs.

"You've got the thermos?" she nodded, "Alright, let's find Tucker."

"He's trying to find out how many ghosts are..." Danny turned around to see why Sam had stopped talking. The ghost he had seen riding the horse earlier that week had grabbed her from behind, holding her mouth shut.

"Danny," he smiled warmly, "We meet at last," he tossed his hat aside. Danny charged towards him. As he did, the ghost knocked Sam away and pulled out his ghost-pistol, grazing Danny in the shoulder.

"Get out of here!" Danny shouted to Sam. She grabbed the backpack, taking one last look at Danny before heading off.

"Who are you people!?" Danny asked.

"I myself am Velkan," he threw his weapon aside, "I won't be needing it," he explained.

"That's what you think," Danny became ghost vapour and flew through the floor. Velkan waited a moment before whirling around, expecting Danny to reappear there. He didn't. Velkan felt something snap into his neck, knocking him forward. Danny landed on the ground, ready to continue, and Velkan got the wind back in him fast. The two began their duel. Danny started to learn the hard way that Velkan wasn't joking when he said that he wouldn't need his weapon.

---

Sam made it up the staircase before being tackled by the panther-ghost, losing the backpack. Knocking it off, she grabbed the laser she had in her pocket and turned to aim it at the panther-ghost. It was nowhere in sight. She felt herself thrown up against the wall as it smacked the laser from her hand and wrapped its fingers around her throat, grinning ear to ear. She looked over and noticed that she could move the laser over to her with her foot. Trying to avoid notice, she began to reach for it, but the panther-ghost apparently had a cat's sight as well as its appearance. It smacked her off to the side, away from the laser or the backpack.

---

Danny crashed against up against a wall, falling down on a small table and breaking it. Velkan was breathing heavily; Danny was a much better fighter than he had predicted. Danny phased through a nearby wall, flying around in an unclear pattern. He was hoping to distract Velkan long enough to get in a good blow; it worked. He kicked him hard in the left arm, throwing him back against a different wall and (accidentally) making him damage a painting.

"Oh no," Danny noticed, "That was Jazz's. She's gonna _kill_ me for that," Velkan slowly picked himself up.

"Good form, Danny," he sighed. He fired a blast on the ground, causing green ectoplasmic smoke to fly up from the floor. Danny didn't see Velkan's chop as it came down on the side of his neck, knocking him out, "Good, but not without flaw."

---

Sam was trying to get back to the backpack, but the panther-ghost proved defiant. She ended up using a different strategy; retreating. As she ran, she came across Jack. His laser was lying on the floor a few feet away from him. Knowing the panther-ghost wasn't far behind, Sam quickly grabbed it, hiding it behind her back. The panther-ghost stopped right in front of her, grinning nastily. Sam gave it a more friendly smile, confusing it. She fired the blast, and once it hit, the panther-ghost became the ordinary ghost who was allergic to cats, vanishing in a flash of light.

---

After Sam had left the lab, the ghosts that were left in the house and the ones she had fought off flew back in, awaiting orders from Velkan. He came down the stairs, gripping his left arm. A large ghost behind him had Danny. At the sight of the captured ghost-child, Velkan's small army let out a cheer.

"We have him," Velkan nodded, "Now, take what we need here, gentlemen, and let's head off to young Danny's school," they picked up some inventions, grabbed a few blueprints, and flew off.

---

"Sam!" Tucker ran up to her, "Found the backpack. You should really be more careful with this stuff."

"Where's Danny!?" Sam seemed concerned.

"Dunno. What's wrong?"

"Something. I don't know what, but something's..." she ran off, not bothering to finish the sentence. Tucker heard her shout "Danny!" a couple times and heard some noises from the lab and some other rooms before running back up, a nervous wreck, "THEY'VE GOT DANNY!"

"How do you know!?"

"We've been best friends our whole lives. We have a psychic connection. I know!" she ran off again.

"Hey! Why don't I have a psychic connection with someone?"


	7. The Order

Danny slowly and groggily came to. His head felt like it was spinning around everywhere. He was in a dark room with yellowish-green light, chained to the wall with ghost chains that kept him from becoming human again. The room was fairly large, with one small door with a barred window being the only way in or out. There was a guard by it.

"Skulker?" Danny moaned; that stuff had been more than just smoke, and his neck still hurt.

"We meet again, ghost-child," the hunter smirked, "Funny we keep running into each other," Danny tried to move his arms, his head still foggy. At the slightest motion, the clamps on his arm connecting the chains tightened, drawing a grimace from the imprisoned ghost-boy.

"You like the chains?" Skulker's tone turned friendly, "I designed them myself!" he realised he was having friendly conversation with an enemy, "I mean, what's wrong, ghost-child? Having trouble getting lose?"

"Where am I?" Danny wearily asked, choosing to change the subject.

"A perfectly reasonable question for someone in your position to ask, Danny" a voice from the shadows spoke out, slowly coming into view; it was Velkan who tossed his hat aside, "But until we can trust you a little more, I'm afraid you can't be trusted with such delicate information. I am Velkan."

"You've told me that already."

"So I did. Good memory," he smiled lightly. Danny was slowly getting his senses back.

"What's going on here? Who are you people, what do you want with me, where am I, and why the heck did you..."

"Hold on there, Danny!" Velkan held his hands up to stop him, "Let's take this one step at a time. As you know, we can't tell you that third question yet, but you'll know all in due time. We..." he headed over to the west wall, the longest wall in the room, hitting a button on a panel. The wall pulled up into the ceiling, revealing what looked like a typical day at the marketplace in London during the Victorian era, "We are The Order," Danny saw pirate ghosts using ghost-horses to pull things around in wagons, ghost-kids playing around, shops set up, and so much of typical 1800 life (based on what he saw in History class). The difference; instead of food, livestock, and papers, weapons were being traded and passed around. One especially large pirate ghost was up against the wall, sleeping. The sight of this did not amuse Velkan.

"_Dutchman!_" he shouted at the top of his lungs, bringing the large ghost out of his sleep and flying over in a bad mood.

"Who dares disturb the sleep of The Flyin' Dutchman!?" he demanded. Velkan was unfazed by this comment.

"Did you unload the supplies from your ship yet?" he asked.

"Well, no, but I..."

"Then do that. _Now_."

"No one orders The Flyin' Dutchman, especially after wakin' me from me nap!"

"I control your pay," that settled the matter.

"Right away, commodore," the ghost noticed Danny, "Beware The Flyin' Dutchman!" he flew off, laughing evilly. Danny just stared at where The Flying Dutchman had been a minute ago as Velkan lowered the wall. He himself found him ridiculous, but unlike The Box Ghost, he might have succeeded in scaring some small children.

---

"Honestly, Fenton, do you really expect me to lend you such valuable supplies and equipment based on such a preposterous tale!?" with his lab having been looted, Jack was low on supplies. As soon as he woke up Sam had shouted what had happened to Danny, demanding that he come up with something to save him with _fast_. Unfortunately, his lack of supplies prevented quick action for what Jack wanted to do. He contacted headquarters for the Society of Misunderstood Genius Scientists to see if he could get some help; unfortunately for him, Dr. Wakeman was working the video lines tonight.

"Believe it or not it's the truth, Wakeman," Jack grabbed the top of the video screen with one hand and pointed at her with the other, "Although in light of all the attention ghosts have drawn to themselves over past week, I don't know why you still doubt my claims."

"Oh, I do not doubt that the head of that CIA Department Paranormalics was attacked by paranormal spirits. I do not doubt that there was chaos in Amity Park. I do not doubt that you have been robbed and your son kidnapped. But I _highly_ doubt that your plan of building a giant laser and blasting away until you hit any sort of ghost is the way to rescue him! There is a more logical approach that a cooler mind can come up with. Unless you're willing to accept a logical approach to the situation, I'm afraid that under Article 5, I cannot give you the supplies to build your ridiculous ghost-hunting weapons that never work in the first place."

"Oh yeah!? You call my work ridiculous!? You have a line of failed XJ Robots designed to fight crime, so watch where you through your smart comments!"

"For your information, XJ-9 is..."

"Nothing but a stupid robot!" Jack started taunting Wakeman childishly.

"She is my daughter, and she is..."

"SHE'S A STUPID ROBOT!!!"

"Daughter!"

"Robot!"

"Daughter!"

"Robot!"

"Daughter!" it kept going, with Maddie, Tucker, Jazz, and (impatiently) Sam watching.

"Does this always happen when they talk to each other?" Tucker asked.

"In a word," Jazz looked back at her dad; his shouting match with the video screen continued. She sighed, "Yes."

"The record time is four hours, seven minutes, and thirty-six seconds," Maddie held up a stopwatch.

"FOUR HOURS!?" Sam shouted.

"Let's see if they can beat it!" Maddie started the stopwatch, grinning like an over-excited sports fan.

"That does it," Sam marched off to another room in the lab that Jack had just installed last month; the docking bay for the Spectre Speeder, inside the satellite on the roof.

"Uh, Sam?" Jazz was starting to worry, "What are you doing?" Sam climbed into the Spectre Speeder and buckled herself in.

"What does it look like!?" she started to hit some buttons on the dashboard, activating various gadgets.

"But we're supposed to wait for Mr. Fenton!" Tucker said, "He's got a plan! He..."

"Needs supplies that he doesn't have and is engaged in a four-hour shouting match with some wacko. I'm not waiting that long," she turned on the car's ghost-tracker, hit the ignition, and took off, barely waiting for the door to come down all the way.

"Get back here!" Jazz shouted.

"Yeah! You think we want to get stuck here listening to Mr. Fenton and that wacko Wakeman?"

---

"So you're a ghost organisation bent on world domination," Danny said, "What a surprise."

"World domination?" Velkan smirked, "_Au contraire_, Danny! I'm sure that you've been to Ghostland at least once in the past?"

"You mean The Ghost-Zone?"

"They call it that now, but back when I died it was Ghostland. Have you been there?"

"Yeah..."

"Then you know that it's a rather unpleasant place to be. Chaos, disorder, all of the spirits tainted by the forces of the paranormal. The only area of order is the prison of Walker, and even that's unpleasant due to the warden's forceful, over-zealous nature. Not all ghosts enjoy that, though. You yourself don't like it, correct?" Danny didn't answer, "_Correct?_"

"Well...no, but I..."

"You're not alone! From what I know of it, I wouldn't like it there!"

"You've never been there?"

"I'm getting to that. Several of my men don't like it there. It's one of the most horrible places that one can be forced to live in! You think that when we die we give up all longing for Earth and its pleasures? No! My men and I just want to live here, on Earth, as we did when alive. At least here there are places where peace and fair order exist!"

"Well, I don't blame you for not liking that place, but when you become a ghost, isn't that kind of a rule, having to live in The Ghost-Zone? I don't have to because I'm still alive, but..."

"Again, _au contraire_, my young friend! Such a law does exist, but it applies only to those ghosts whose bodies were put to rest. It does not apply to me in the least. When I died I was left on the road to be eaten by the dogs. Never put to rest, my spirit is destined to remain on Earth. Some ghosts who had escaped from Ghostland shared their horror stories of that foul place, seeking to live on their land again. Unfortunately, one thing that never dies, no matter how hard you try to kill it, is the superstition and fear of the living. Mankind will never accept us, Danny. Whom can you trust with these powers of yours? Two friends?"

"How do you know..." Danny started to say before remembering Skulker, "Never mind."

"You can't even trust your own parents. They're ghost-hunters. Look at all the fear for us now in the country."

"That was actually your fault..."

"We can never be accepted in this world," Velkan acted as if he hadn't heard Danny, "save by one or two individuals. So along with those who had fled Ghostland, I formed The Order. We exist to make this world safe for the ghosts that wish to live here, and any threat to them must be eliminated. People like your father and Paranormalics. Many of us couldn't enter Ghostland if we tried. Our numbers currently stand at 120, with only ten of us able to enter Ghostland. Then men I've sent after you are those ten. We rely largely on mercenary help. Skulker's for example. All of our mercenaries those ten have recruited from Ghostland."

"That's where ye be wrong!" The Flying Dutchman flew down again, "I ain't part of this Order, kid. I belong below the waves of the Pacific! They need someone to smuggle in the goods, and as you can see, I be a pirate! I got the job. 'Course, the others are pirates too, but they needed a captain and Velkan here's too busy with the plannin.' But like them, I was never put to rest, so now I be forever a- hauntin' the seven seas."

"Will you get back to work!?" Velkan and Skulker shouted.

"Yes, sirs," the large pirate flew off again.

"Unfortunately, he's right; we do rely on him for most supplies."

---

Sam had managed to activate another gadget of the Spectre Speeder that ran a laser across the front window, allowing people from inside to see ghost objects that would normally be invisible. She was following a signal that led her to a warehouse at the seaport. She jumped out and looked around.

"Danny?" she shouted.

"A-_HA!_" a familiar stupid figure flew up, "I am The Box Ghost! Did you think you could hold me within The Ghost-Zone for long?"

"Where's Danny!?"

"I am The Box Ghost! The rumours run rampant throughout the zone of the paranormal! The ghost-child has been taken by The Order!"

"What Order?"

"I AM THE BOX GHOST! I dare not speak of them, lest they track me down and utilise me for the testing of unstable ectoplasmic chemicals! _BEWARE!_" he flew off once more. Ignoring what just happened, Sam climbed back in the Spectre Speeder and kept on going.

---

"Look, dude, I sympathise with you guys, but you're taking this way too far. I can't think of anyone else who'd be crazy enough to break into a government base and try to kill the head of a CIA Department so I'm guessing that it was you. Now you have more problems than ever."

"We thought of that," Velkan nodded, "If we were to fail, then eventually, someone in Paranormalics, whether it be Conrad or lower, would counter-attack, most likely on innocent ghosts since our location is a secret. A loss it would be, but a rallying cry for us."

"OK, now I'm convinced; you've lost it. And I'm not letting you get away with any plans involving killing anyone!"

"Rather bold talk for someone in your position," Danny eyed the cuffs on his hands again; he did have a point, "And I don't think you'll be leaving us any time soon. I foresee you being very useful to us in more ways than one."

"Dude, I am not helping you with _anything_."

"Exactly what I knew you'd say," he snapped his fingers. There was a blinding flash of light, and then the panther-ghost appeared, "I'm sure you've met our friend Panther by now," Velkan pulled out his ghost-pistol and shot Panther in the arm, changing him back into an ordinary ghost whom Skulker knocked out. Danny eyed Velkan suspiciously.

"Some of our members have died in the 20th and 21st centuries, you understand," Velkan pulled out a needle filled with strange yellowish-black fluid, "The only ones of us who weren't pirates. One of them specialised in ectoplasmic chemicals. Came up with this rather interesting fluid. Very unpredictable, highly unstable. Rather than risk losing one of our few men, we decided to test it out on a volunteer outside The Order," he injected the liquid into the unconscious ghost. A yellow smoke formed inside him, some of it coming out through his mouth. His ears became pointed, a tail came from his back, black fur sprouted all over his body, and his teeth and nails became more cat-like.

"And as some nice little extras," Velkan handed the empty needle to Skulker, "He gains the flashy light tricks, the fog, and is under our complete control. They allowed us to gain some valuable prisoners when we invaded Paranormalics. Though," he grinned, "perhaps I should say, gained. Panther, out," smiling, it phased through the wall and into the trading centre. This did not look good.

"You mean...I'm getting turned into a cat thing?"

"No," Velkan smiled, "But it does show you our powerful methods of persuasion. Skulker, take him to Plasmius."

"Plasmius? Vlad Plasmius?"

"So you've met your new master, have you?" with his fresh knowledge, Danny made his first attempt to escape. The slightest motions in his wrist caused the clamps to close down ever tighter, but he kept fighting through the pain (to no avail).

"Try all you like, ghost-child," Skulker laughed, "There's no escape."

"Don't seem so upset," Velkan grabbed his hat from the corner of the room, his back turned on Danny, "You won't be alone. We'll be bringing that girlfriend of yours in her soon. She would be here already if you'd let Panther get on with his job."

"Sam? She's not my girl...wait. What do you mean you're bringing her in?"

"When at Paranormalics we found some interesting files," Velkan placed his hat back on, his back still turned, "Apparently Conrad didn't want them being seen. Sarah Frost wrote them when she was working on that interesting Gateway project. Mentions something about her friend Volpe accidentally infecting a girl with a seed turning her into a possessed ghost-hybrid. When I saw "ghost-boy" in the file I knew it related to you. Even confirms your identity as well as hers. Our expert's opinion is that you managed to remove the seed. He has a collection of them. Once the ghost who infected the person is gone, they have no purpose in ghost form, leaving them lost and confused. We can provide purpose for them."

"_You leave Sam out of this!_" Danny shouted.

"Rather emotional over someone whom you have a platonic relationship with, aren't you?" he still hadn't looked at Danny, and wasn't about to, "Skulker?"

"Yes sir," the chains holding Danny fell off the wall, but the clamps linked together like handcuffs. He was dragged from the room, Skulker phasing them through the right wall and Danny still making an attempt to escape. As Velkan opened the door and left the room, one could hear Danny beginning to scream.

---

Sam had picked up on another signal. Running the laser over the window, she could see a long rope falling from the sky into the woods. At the bottom of the rope was an anchor, several ghosts climbing down the rope with boxes in their hands. Sam pulled up, trying to see where the anchor came from. A large ghost pirate ship floated high in the air. It looked decayed and ruined, as if it had been under the seas for hundreds of years. She could hear the shouting of the captain.

"Careful with that! That's the property of The Flyin' Dutchman 'til we get it inside! I knew I shoulda gone down to Bikini Bottom tonight. Can ya' see anything, sir!?" he shouted up to the crow's nest.

"Human in a ghost car!" the watchman shouted.

"WHAT!?" his sword becoming a telescope, The Flying Dutchman flew to the front of the ship. Sure enough, there was Sam, heading towards them fast.

"It _do_ be a human lass! Open fire with the cannons!" several men rushed below deck, arming the large guns. At the first shot fired, Sam knew she'd been spotted. She dodged the cannon fire, trying to see if the car was armed. She didn't have time, though. She suddenly lost control of steering and began to lose altitude. She would've thought she had been hit, but with the Spectre Speeder being relatively small, she would've noticed. Somehow, she was on autopilot, being steered away from the ship.

"Cease fire!" the Dutchman shouted, "She be leavin' us!"

---

The Spectre Speeder pulled up into the docking bay. As Sam climbed out, she noticed the Fentons and Tucker standing right in front of her, not looking too happy (except Tucker; he looked nervous).

"Tucker!" Sam shouted, assuming he'd told them.

"Now Samantha, I know you want to save Danny. All of us do," Jack said, "But there is no excuse for hijacking my Spectre Speeder!"

"We're talking about _your_ son here!"

"Sam, you're supposed to be smarter than Tucker!" Jazz said, "You aren't supposed to make stupid decisions like this!"

"My thoughts exa..." Tucker started to say, "Hey!"

"Jasmine is right," Jack continued, "This is no time for rash actions!"

"Wait," Jazz looked confused, "So you...actually agree with me? This isn't just about the stupid Spectre Speeder?"

"Correct, Jasmine."

"Excuse me a minute," she ran off to review her notes and diary entries on her dad.

"Samantha, when those ghosts robbed my lab they took a great deal of supplies that would've let us find Danny in a snap, and they took blueprints for my work. Fortunately, they didn't find the secret one," he held up the blue sheet of paper, "This is meant as a back-up in case Wakeman won't give me what I need and I have nothin' else to work with. I still have what I need to make this baby a reality, and I need the Spectre Speeder. I promise you Samantha, I want to jump in that car and foolishly rush off to wherever Danny is just as badly as you do, and I promise you, give me three days and I'll have this thing up and runnin'!"

---

The next Monday; three days after Danny's capture; Jack still had not finished. Apparently, the ghosts had taken more than he fought. They had also struck the school, stealing the Ghost Catcher. Now there was another emergency school assembly in the theatre, Mr. Lancer at the podium.

"Greetings, students. I mean," he held up his book, "Wassup, Gs?" silence, "I'm sure you all noticed that the Ghost Catcher is missing from the front of the school. I'm afraid that's not even close to the worst of what I have to tell you. On Friday night, the home of your fellow student Danny Fenton was attacked by the same paranormal beings who have been haunting Amity Park all last week. Property was stolen and ruined, the security of one's own home was destroyed, and worst of all...Danny was kidnapped," there were some gasps at this, but on the whole, there wasn't that much noise...that Mr. Lancer could hear. Dash and his jock friends were sitting behind Sam and Tucker, and both of them could hear Dash and his pals slapping hands and rejoicing in this news. Tucker managed to stay calm; Sam was almost ready to attack.

"Calm down, Sam," Tucker said, "It's just Dash..."

"...I hope they don't let up on him until he keels over..." they heard Dash say. That did it. Sam slowly turned to face Dash and his friends, the glare in her eyes getting her attention.

"Will you all _shut up!?_" she shouted. Dash and his friends just laughed at that.

"Get a load of the mourning girlfriend!" Dash pointed at Sam, "I'm just speaking my mind. I can think whatever I want of Fenton! And I happen to think that those ghosts should give him the beating of his life!" Sam grabbed Tucker's backpack and threw it as hard as she could into Dash's gut, knocking him back in his seat.

"**_EXCUSE ME!_**" they both heard Mr. Lancer shout over the microphone, shattering the eardrums of the kids in the front row.

"You're gonna get it now, Manson," Dash smirked.

"Mr. Baxter, this behaviour is inexcusable!"

"What? But she's..."

"Detention. The rest of the week. You and your friends, and all of you are suspended from the football team until further notice!" he calmed down, "As I was saying, Ms. Manson, you and Mr. Foley are free to return home for the day if you would like," Sam slowly sat back down, deciding to stay in school but grateful to their English teacher for the offer.

---

"Whoa," Tucker said as they got off the bus stop, "I can't believe you nailed Dash like that! And with my backpack! 'Course it's filled with computers, phones, and gadgets which you now broke, but still!"

"Knock it off, Tucker," Sam mumbled.

"Look, I'm as worried about Danny as you are, but come on! Normally I'm the one doing stupid stuff like that! Wait, that didn't come out right..."

"Later," Sam barely attempted to wave "good-bye" as she turned the corner to head to her house. When she got there, she was surprised to find the front door open.

"Mom!" she shouted, "You home?" no answer. Still confused, she dropped her backpack and headed up to her room. Something did not feel right. She found out why when she saw a dagger impaled on her door, a note at the end. Her breathing started to get heavier as she pulled the dagger out and read the note:

"Let this be a warning to you and to his father.  
The Order"

Slowly she entered her room. She dropped the dagger and the note at the sight of what she saw. Danny was weakly standing by her bed, in his normal state. His eyes were closed. He had grey shorts and a dirty black shirt on. Sam had never seen him so badly hurt, even after he had received the beating from Frost and Volpe. He had two cuts on his face, some blood coming out of his mouth, at least 10 bruises, was covered in dirt and filth, and his hair was messed up. He slowly fell forward, Sam running over to catch him before he fell on the ground.

"Danny!?" she lightly tapped his cheek, increasingly worried, "_Danny!?_" his moaning showed he was still alive. Sam gently set him down on the floor as the phone rang.

"Look, Sam..." it was Tucker.

"Tucker," she said through gasps of air, "Get an ambulance here _quick!_"


	8. A House Divided

Sam, Tucker, and the Fentons sat in the waiting room of the hospital, waiting impatiently. Jack was pacing the floor and had been doing so for the past hour; this had proven annoying for just about everyone.

"_Will you stop that!?_" Jazz shouted.

"What else am I supposed to do while we sit around here waiting for someone to come out!?" Jack turned to face her, "This isn't the time to worry about ghosts and I'll go down with Custer before I read one of those old magazines!" he pointed to the small stack of reading materials by his wife, who was reading one. Tucker was trying and half-succeeding to remain calm by playing a game on his webcam, while Sam sat impatiently, ready to jump at the slightest noise. A nurse walked in, unnoticed by everyone.

"Excuse me?" she said softly. Sam jumped, turning towards the nurse; everyone else looked over, nervous, "Danny is going to be fine," everyone breathed a sigh of relief, the tension and fear fading from their expressions.

"Can we...?" Sam asked.

"Yes, but one at a time. Who brought him in?" everyone looked at Sam, "You can go first. He's asleep, so unless he wakes up on his own, do not disturb him," Sam nodded, got a pass that had Danny's room number on it, and headed off.

"So," Jack said, having nothing to do now, "Anyone bring something I can do, use, read, etc.?"

---

Sam stopped by room 28 and opened the door. Danny was lying on the bed, asleep. He'd been cleaned up and put into hospital clothes. There were two bandages on his face, but still he looked strangely peaceful. Smiling and sighing at once, Sam moved some of Danny's still messy hair away from his eyes. As she did that, Danny started to move, his eyes still shut. He shot up in a start, slightly gasping and looking around all over.

"Sam?" he just noticed his best friend's presence in the room. Her smile changed to one less relieved and more friendly in nature.

"Welcome back," Danny laughed, but quickly stopped. He may have been cleaned up, but his body was still sore all over.

"I'm guessing I'm in the hospital," he looked around some more as he lay back down, "What happened?"

"I was gonna ask you," Sam said, "That cat-ghost probably isn't going to stay away for long and this happening to you is nothing but help for Paranormalics..."

"Hey, hold on a sec!" Danny looked confused, "Cat-ghost? What the heck are you talking about!?"

"...The cat-ghost that's tried to kill us the past week..." Sam was starting to worry, "That you fought...in ghost form?"

"Sam, maybe I don't have room to talk here seeing as I'm the one in the hospital bed, but are you sure you're alright?"

"Can't you remember anything from being captured? About being a ghost!?" Danny thought for a minute, then sighed and shook his head.

"All I remember is waking up in your room and passing out. Come to think of it, the last few months are a blur. I hardly remember anything. Why, am I forgetting something important? And what about ghosts?" Sam was about to say something, but decided against it. It might just be temporary amnesia, and if it wasn't, she shouldn't give him a headache after what he'd been through.

"Don't worry about it," she smiled again, "You gonna be OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he yawned, "Sore, but I'll be fine."

"'K," Sam moved away from the bed, "I'll go get your parents."

---

"Whaddya mean he can't remember anything!?" Tucker whispered loudly to Sam. They had moved their conversation to an empty hallway away from Maddie and Jazz.

"He can't remember anything," she said simply, "Anything after the lab accident is a complete blur!"

"This is not good!" Tucker was almost loud enough that Maddie and Jazz could hear, so he brought his voice down, "I finally convinced him to find out Valerie's new phone-number in ghost-mode and he never had time to tell me on Friday!" he noticed Sam's stare, "In addition to the, needing to know about The Order, thing."

"Not to mention that's a whole part of his life gone."

"Well what can we do about it?"

"Hope. Maybe it's just temporary amnesia. If it's not, we'll think of something."

"Right," Tucker held up his electronic planner, "If Danny doesn't get his memory back, Sam thinks of something," they noticed Jack heading back.

"Well?" Maddie asked.

"Exactly what Samantha said; fine except for the last few months being a blur. I think he's suffering from ecto-amnesia. Fortunately, I had a device in the works for that problem and the blueprint wasn't among the ones stolen!"

"Dad, didn't it occur to you that he might just have..."

"To the lab!" he shouted, running out the door, "I'll be back in an hour!"

"Apparently not," Jazz sighed and headed off to Fenton's room.

---

Danny Fenton had recovered enough to go to school by Wednesday. As he, Sam, and Tucker walked down the hall, a few people looked at him strangely, but most just felt it was a normal day. To _most_, it was.

"So Danny," Tucker asked, "What's Valerie's new phone number again?"

"Huh?"

"Tucker!" Sam was getting fed up with this. Fenton's amnesia was definitely _not_ temporary. Everything from the accident in the lab up until he'd been left in her room was a complete blur. Since she hadn't figured out a way to get his memories back and Fenton was still pretty sore from whatever he'd gone through, she didn't think bringing up things he had forgotten was a good idea. Unfortunately, Tucker had been frequently forgetting that.

"What!? It could help him get his memory back!" the bell rang as the three walked into Mr. Lancer's class.

"Welcome back, Mr. Fenton," Mr. Lancer noticed him as they came in, "In light of why you have been absent the past few days, you are hereby excused from all assignments you have missed."

"Oh, thanks."

"However, you are not excused from handing in the homework assigned on Friday."

"Uh, right," Fenton looked through his backpack, but Tucker was the one who looked concerned.

"Uh, Danny?" he said.

"Yeah Tuck?"

"On Friday...when I was watchin' those pirate movies...I started chewing some gum at one point instead of eating popcorn. I needed to spit it in something, and I think what I grabbed was your..." Fenton sighed before letting his head drop down onto the desk.

"Well, I'm afraid that leaves a zero in your gradebook, Mr. Fenton," Mr. Lancer grabbed some papers and started to pass them out, "And I'd like you to stay behind a few minutes after the bell rings."

---

As the bell rang, the principal's secretary announced over the intercom that there was to be another meeting in the theatre, presented by Mr. Lancer. As the students filed out of the room, Danny Fenton walked over to Mr. Lancer's desk, Sam and Tucker waiting outside for him.

"Danny, I've looked into your problems with Mr. Baxter," Mr. Lancer closed the book on his desk, "and I completely understand the situation. The detention I assigned him on Monday has been extended for two weeks, as has his suspension from the football team."

"Uh...thanks," Fenton looked confused.

"Well, the assembly's about to start," Mr. Lancer stood up. Fenton followed him out, stopping by Sam and Tucker.

"Let me guess," Tucker said, "You can't remember talking to Lancer about Dash?"

"Actually, I remember that. But I have a feeling I was trying to cover up something, and I can't remember what that thing is!"

"Just relax," Tucker said, "I'm sure it'll come back soon. It better, 'cause now that the rest of the non-popular crowd's found out Val's not gonna be free for much longer," Fenton and Sam sighed and headed into the theatre, where Mr. Lancer was already at the podium.

"'Yo, dogs!'" he was trying to act hip again, reading from his book, "'What is in da house?'" someone had brought a pet cricket for science class; that was the only sound in the room, "Well," Mr. Lancer looked depressed, "Let's get started. The latest news of the paranormal situation has come in, and we feel it's now escalated into an issue that we should be following regularly here at Casper High," the curtains behind Mr. Lancer pulled back, showing a screen, "A projector displaying images from a television has been set up. Please direct your attention to the screen behind me," he turned to look at it as the lights dimmed.

"...and now the latest reports have come in from Amity Park, which now appears to be the most haunted city in America," the news reporter was outside Washington. Behind him was a large crowd, all of them looking fearful and wearing good-luck charms and magic symbols, holding up signs like "We're Haunted! We're Haunted!" and "Spirits Walk Among Us!"

"What is the latest report from Amity?" an off-camera reporter asked.

"It says that the son of ghost-hunter Jack Fenton, who was captured by the same group of pirate ghosts who've been plaguing Amity all last week, as returned home safe and sound," Fenton looked around. Everyone was looking at him, as if he was right out of some kind of horror story. He didn't even remember how he got mentioned on this report. Now he was getting a headache.

"Now this kidnapping only adds to the tension here concerning General Conrad, correct?" the off-camera reporter spoke up again.

"That's right. In fact the vote by Congress has just came in," both the crowd behind the reporter and the students in the school grew more tense, "This is not a matter for the Supreme Court to decide. However, Conrad's effectiveness as the head of Paranormalics is even more controversial than ever thanks to this latest incident in Amity. A special commission has been assigned to make a recommendation to the CIA and to the President. A member of Conrad's own staff, Ken Bruce, is applauding this action. President Hartman has tried to fight this controversy the entire time, and still urges the CIA Director Dave Thomas to keep Conrad on as the head of Paranormalics. He's done this against the advice of all his political advisors, and with his ratings in the polls down to 52, I think they might be right."

"Andrew Tyner, reporting live from Washington D.C, thank you Andrew," as the scene changed to the inside of a news studio, the lights went on and the screens went off. Sam looked over at Fenton. His hand was on his head and he was moaning from his headache.

"You OK?" she asked. No answer came...at first.

"I..." he grimaced, "I'm starting to..."

"Wait a minute," Sam snapped her fingers, "That's it! Tucker, you've collected all the ghost stuff over all of Danny's fights, right?"

"Right."

"Bring them over to my house. Both of you meet me there."

---

With a wave of his hand, Velkan telepathically removed the sight of the news report from the eyes of his five advisors, Skulker, and himself. The seven were in a private room away from the trade centre, and all looked pleased.

"It seems Mr. Fenton has served our purpose as a warning," Velkan poured himself some ghost-wine, passing along the bottle to the rest of his men, "Vlad's little plan should fit in perfectly. On that note," he waved his hand again, and they could all now see the aged half-ghost, "How is our little re-education program going, Mr. Plasmius?"

"See for yourself," Velkan's telepathy allowed all at the table to do so. Vlad stood calmly, his hands behind his back. In front of him was Danny Phantom. He was completely transparent, the upper part of his dark suit badly torn. Down on one knee, and with a hand against the wall, he looked tired and worn down, his breathing heavy.

"Come now, Danny," Vlad used ectoplasmic energy to form a sword, "I haven't even broken a sweat yet!" he attempted to bring the blade down on Danny, who created an energy barrier.

"Can't rely on that forever, child!" Vlad used his free hand to blast some energy into the floor. It came up inside Danny's shield, wrapping around his arms and throwing him against the wall, chained.

"What to do, Danny?" Vlad mockingly asked, grinning evilly, "Well? Think fast!" he raised the sword again. Concentrating as hard as he could, Danny formed a green glowing pick to the lock of Vlad's energy chains, freeing him just in time. He had no time to avoid the next blow, however. As if by instinct, and ectoplasmic shield resembling those of the knights of old appeared on his arm, defending him from the blade. A green blade appeared in Danny's hand, both actions surprising him.

"Finally!" Vlad laughed, "I was beginning to worry that I put too much on you too soon! But since you're starting to catch on..." their battle continued, Danny on the defensive and still weak. Velkan waved his hand again, removing the scene from his eyes.

"I think everything is going just fine," he smiled.

---

The doorbell rang, and Sam answered the door. Tucker stood there, empty-handed.

"Tucker," she could tell bad news was coming, "Where's the ghost stuff?"

"Well...y'know last week when I was having the sci-fi film marathon with my dad instead of helping you and Danny?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, two days before, we were still trying to buy the new TV system, so we had a garage sale, and I..." he laughed nervously, which didn't make Sam any happier, "Come on! Someone offered me $200! That bought the surround sound and the DVD player! How often is someone besides Mr. Fenton gonna offer that much for a bunch of old ghost junk!?"

"What did the guy look like?"

"I dunno. Tall with brownish-gold hair. Why?"

"Did he look like this?" Sam held up Wednesday's paper. The top story, as with the past week, involved the anti-ghost situation in Washington. Bruce was on the front of the paper, with the article going with the picture involving a speech he had made against Conrad.

"Yeah...that's the guy!" Tucker was not catching on. Sam made a loud noise of frustration before turning around and marching back inside.

"What!?" Tucker walked in behind her, "How was I supposed to know then he'd be our biggest human enemy!? That was before this all started!" right after they were inside, the doorbell rang again. It was Danny Fenton.

"Hey, dude," Tucker answered the door, "Watch out for Sam," she appeared behind Tucker, who, when he noticed her, jumped back and almost knocked Fenton over.

"Well, let's get started," she led them up to her room, where a bunch of VHS tapes lay on the ground by the TV, "I've taped all the reports of the anti-ghost situation in case we needed to check something on them. Danny, you were starting to remember something when you saw that report at school, right?"

"Yes, but I lost it right after it was over."

"Probably wasn't long enough. Maybe this'll work better," she put in the first tape, and the three sat down on the floor in front of the TV.

---

The commission sat in a straight row of five behind five podiums, the U.S. flag and a seal of office behind them. No one but a few Congressmen and Bruce were present in the rest of the seats in the room. The discussions between the men of the commission had been going on for the past few hours. No one noticed a strange green fog coming up through the bottom of the door and drifting up into a corner on the ceiling, staying there. Finally the discussions stopped. The head of the commission stood up, clearing his throat.

"As head of Paranormalics," he began, "General Gary Conrad has removed all of the corruption that the organisation suffered under the leadership of Sarah Frost. He has also made many needed revisions to the regulations and roles concerning Paranormalics. All activities done under his command have been nothing but monitoring of ghosts and watching for those that do haunt the world. However, since the incident that occurred in Paranormalics headquarters, General Conrad has refused to take any action, particularly against the horror that has been striking Amity Park. One could argue in his defence that, while these ghosts have struck throughout the past week, their timing is random and impossible to recognise. The controversies leading to the formation of this commission have also bogged him down. Nonetheless, the commission is sympathetic to the beliefs of many of the American public and of Congress that the threat of paranormal creatures haunting our country is no longer a matter that can be taken lightly, left strictly as an 'observe and take notes' issue. Therefore, the commission unanimously recommends that General Conrad be removed from office by the directors of the CIA, and that he be replaced with someone who can provide more security for the American people. Hearing adjourned," he banged the gavel down on his podium, and the members of Congress and Bruce got up to leave, satisfied. One member of Congress stumbled as he collected his things to head outside. He took too long. He was the only thing left in the room within a few minutes...at least the only thing that could be seen. From the ceiling, Panther's green fog slowly floated down to the floor and approached the remaining Congressman.

---

Sam hit the "Stop" button on her remote as the last tape ended. On the TV in its place was a live news report.

"That's a lucky coincidence," Tucker commented, being shushed by both Danny Fenton and Sam.

"The commission has unanimously recommended that General Conrad should be replaced," the reporter outside Washington said, "The CIA directors will meet later this evening to..." he took some papers from a hand off-camera, "This just in. Congressman John A. Davis has gone missing. He was among one of those attending the hearing," Sam turned off the TV, looking at Fenton. He seemed to have trouble breathing, staring blankly at the screen.

"I...I remember!" he jumped up suddenly, "I can't remember that much, but it's coming back! There was...a large ghost in armour...Skulker, I think?" he looked to his friends for help.

"Right..." Tucker nodded, both he and Sam excited Fenton's memories were back.

"There was a...cat-thing...they called it Panther," Fenton continued.

"Right," Sam answered this time.

"And Velkan," Fenton started pacing, "They came to my house last Friday, caught me there, and..."

"Right, right, right!"

"...that's it," all three looked disappointed.

"Never mind all that!" Tucker grabbed Fenton, "Do you remember Val's new phone number!?"

"_Tucker!_" Sam shouted.

"What!?"

---

In a blinding flash of light, Panther appeared before Velkan and his advisors, Davis crashing down on the floor in front of him. Velkan kneeled down, quickly passing his hand over the space above the Congressman's head.

"Leave him to Skulker," two of his advisors picked him up and carried him off; the hunter had left them earlier, "They've recommended Conrad be replaced," he frowned, "We may have to make a change in schedule at the rate they're going. Kindly inform Plasmius," a third advisor left to do so.

---

"So it's agreed," David Thomas, director of the CIA, threw the file down on the table where he and his top men were discussing the situation involving Conrad, "he is removed. I'll take the news to President Hartman tomorrow morning, and we'll hold discussions on who to appoint in his place."

---

Danny Phantom was down on his knees, chained to the wall with Skulker's ghost chains restraining him. His uniform had become even more badly torn from Vlad's "lessons." Apparently he thought that the best way to teach Phantom all the things that he'd learned over 20 years was to force Phantom into needing them right away. He needed some way to escape. He tugged on the ghost chains again, but to no avail.

"Wait a minute," he thought of something. Concentrating, he formed an ectoplasmic pick, "I hope this works," the pick fell into the lock, moved around, and opened the chains. Phantom pulled his hands away from the wall as fast as he could…and fell down on his face.

"Gotta watch out for that," he said to himself wearily as he stood up. At least he was free from the chains. Now came the harder part; getting out of wherever this place was. He slowly opened the door, looking around carefully. There was no guard. However, right across the hall from his cell, was a room without a door, where twenty ghosts were sitting around, drinking ghost-rum and singing pirate songs. As expected, all of them were pirate ghosts. The Flying Dutchman was among them. They didn't notice him, and Phantom could see another door at the end of that room. He didn't want to risk running into Skulker or Vlad.

"Here goes nothing," he said to himself, turning invisible and silently floating into the room, keeping down as low as he could.

"I say!" one of them shouted, "There be a rat tryin' to sneak past the crew of the _Whaler_!" Phantom had been sighted.

"Oh no," he got ready to fight as fifteen of the ghosts charged towards him, the other five being unconscious. Despite being weak, Phantom didn't have too much trouble fighting most of them, seeing as how all but three of the fifteen attacking were drunk. Soon he had just those three to worry about, that number including The Flying Dutchman.

"No one dares try and get past The Flyin' Dutchman!" the large ghost whipped out his cutlass, "Have at ye, dog!" Phantom quickly formed an ectoplasmic sword to parry the Dutchman's blow. He now used that for combat as all the ghosts he was fighting readied their own blades. He didn't run anyone through, but he used the guard to hit the ghosts over the back of the head and knock them out. The only one he couldn't manage that with was The Flying Dutchman, who was laughing hysterically as their duel went on.

"Yer out of yer league, kid!" he shouted, "Ye be lookin' at the champion of the Bikini Bottom Fencers League for the past three thousand years!" Phantom knocked the sword from the Dutchman's hand, landing it in the counter of the bar, "Well, maybe it was the Knot-Tyin' Contest."

---

Vlad barged into the private room where Velkan, Skulker, and the advisors still were.

"_You!_" he pointed at Skulker, "Please do not tell me you were foolish enough to make those ghost chains out of something based in ectoplasmic energy!"

"...I did do that. Why, what's wrong with them?" Skulker was confused.

"Didn't you see Danny pick the lock on my energy chains!?" Vlad shouted, "He has the ability to free himself from restraints based in ectoplasmic energy now!"

"...You mean he learned that permanently, it wasn't just an accident?" he looked around nervously; no one was supporting him here. He laughed nervously.

"Whoops," he pretended to check his controls, "Oh, look at that! I, uh...have to go to the library, check out a book on a gorilla...again. Gee, what an annoyance. Well…bye!" he flew out of there as fast as he could, Vlad about ready to go after him.

"Let him go," Velkan ordered.

"But sir..."

"_Let him go_," he was more defiant this time, "He didn't know when he built those. It's not worth killing him over. Besides, there's an easy way to get him back and even more ready for your training. Where is Panther?"

"Finding out the results of the CIA hearing," one of his advisors responded.

"When he returns, send him after young Danny's girlfriend."


	9. Change of Plans

Danny Phantom flew out, finally above the surface. The base was apparently underground in the woods a few miles away from Amity Park. Still out of breath, he ran into the forest, hoping to lose anyone who might be following him. He had stolen an overcoat from one of the pirates, covering his torn uniform. He'd also taken a sword off another to save energy. He finally stopped running once he reached the park, collapsing down on his knees by the small pond, gasping for breath. He didn't notice the green fog flying above and to his right. Soon Phantom found himself flying back and crashing down in front of the tree, Panther landing on the spot where he had been just moments ago.

"What the..." Phantom didn't have time to finish his sentence. Panther kicked him in the side, knocking him forward another few feet. He just managed to raise his sword up to block Panther's next blow; this time it was attacking with its claws. As its claws approached the blade, sparks of energy surged around the claws, making them have the same strength as the ghost-blade and preventing them from breaking. Phantom just stared at the claws in disbelief before being kicked back again.

---

Vlad and Velkan were watching the battle telepathically.

"What in the world is it doing!?" Vlad shouted, "It's supposed to be tracking down his girlfriend, not beating the living daylights out of..."

"Every time it's tried to take her, Danny has gotten in the way. It learns, Vlad."

---

Phantom caught Panther's punch and retaliated with a kick to the stomach, but it wasn't enough to phase it for long. It sent a blinding flash at Phantom, hitting him right in the chest and knocking him up into a tree. A second flash snapped the branches near him off the tree, sending him flying down with them. Trying his best to stay alert, Phantom got to his feet as fast as he could, dodging two strikes to the face. He tried using his sword, but it was soon swept out of his hand and embedded into a tree. Panther began becoming more clever in its method of attack, though there was no need; it clearly had the advantaged over the exhausted ghost-boy. Anything Phantom tried moved too slowly to avoid detection, and Panther wasn't giving him any time to recover and defend himself. Phantom landed up against the tree, his head inches away from his sword. As the ghost-creature charged toward him on all fours, he yanked the sword from the wall and slashed the thing across its stomach, causing it to reel back in agony. He kicked it to the ground, viciously beating it and wrapping his fingers around its neck. Letting go with one hand, he grabbed the sword off the ground and placed it over Panther's arm. He realised what was happening just in time.

"What am I _doing_!?" he was barely even whispering, but the brief comment cut deep within his conscience. Never before had he been so ruthless when attacking an adversary before. His pause to reflect was not wise, however. Panther kicked Phantom off itself, whirling around and cutting him right across the face with its claws. With five large slashes, one close to his eye, Phantom could barely see as he was hit hard in the gut and knocked back another few feet by an energy blast. Panther made another strike for his face; this time the blow was parried by the sword. Soon not even this offered Danny any protection. Panther swept it from his hands once more, this time breaking it in two like a toothpick over its knee and tossing the remnants of the blade into the pond. Snarling evilly, it drove its claws into Phantom and fired off brief sparks of energy, tossing him back two whole yards. It leapt up into the air, tossing an extremely large ball of light towards Phantom. He just barely managed to see it and raise the shield quick enough. It wrapped around the light, forming a yellow ball. With a brief surge of strength he hurled it up towards Panther, making a direct hit. Soon the ordinary ghost had returned.

"You stupid cats stay away from me!" he shouted. With that, he vanished in a flash of light, leaving Phantom lying alone in the park. Had he still been half-human, that last blow before the energy blast would've killed him. The scars across his fast stung, but weren't bleeding. He couldn't move, and didn't even bother trying. Even more worn out and with a weary conscience, he closed his eyes to rest until daybreak.

---

Danny Fenton twitched involuntarily in his sleep, his alarm just minutes away from going off. Through clenched teeth he hissed his breaths, perspiration forming on his face. There were no distinct images in this horrific dream; just brief flashes of pain. He could hear shouting, cries of pain, grunts as he attempted to keep it in. Glowing green eyes stared from one end of the room; red eyes from the other. The hatted, long-haired figure was right in front of his face, drawing a weapon...he shot up out of his bed merely five seconds before the alarm went off.

"Rise and shine, Danny!" his mom shouted, "Breakfast is ready!" still breathing heavy, Fenton wiped the sweat from his face and got out of bed.

---

"Whoa," Tucker remarked on the bus, eyes wide, "They really gave it to ya while you were there, didn't they?"

"And I don't even know who 'they' are still," Fenton said, "I couldn't really see them. Just their glowing eyes and one tall one with a hat."

"The ghost with the horse?"

"Who?"

"Never mind."

"Well you've gotta remember sooner or later," Sam said, "And considering the odds of there being another report on the anti-ghost problems in Amity, you should get some more help soon," she was soon proven right. They had not even made it to their lockers when the announcement was made to report the theatre, everything having been set up as it was in yesterday's meeting. Once Mr. Lancer had gotten out his "hip" sayings, the news report began.

"The news has just come in," the reporter outside Washington was saying, reading from a paper, "The director of the CIA David Thomas has decided to follow the recommendation of the commission and remove General Conrad from his position as head of Paranormalics," at those words, almost all the school began applauding, standing out of their chairs. Only three faces did not look happy; in fact, they looked rather concerned. Fenton, Sam, and Tucker knew that this was bad news (though in Fenton's case, he did not know why); now there was just the matter of who would replace him.

"...Thomas has gone personally to President Hartman today, and is in the White House at this very moment," the report broke over the sound of cheering, "Who will take over is yet unknown."

---

President Hartman sat in his chair, calmly looking at the files as he had been doing for the past fifteen minutes, ignoring Thomas's presence in the room. The CIA Director felt the uncomfortable atmosphere far more than the President.

"I'm sorry, Mr. President," he coughed out quickly, "But we've made up our minds. You can feel free to suggest anyone you'd like to succeed him, I'll have no problems with..."

"I don't have the power to change this ruling, and I'm not gonna try to change your mind," the President said blankly.

"...Oh."

"Vote on who should succeed General Conrad let me know when you reach something," he finally looked up, handing the file to Thomas, who took it with a still-shaking hand.

"I'll stop by General Conrad's and tell him the..."

"Won't be necessary, I invited him over earlier. Off getting a drink right now, I'll tell him when he comes back."

"Very well, Mr. President," Thomas nodded, relieved, and headed out the door. President Hartman waited a few minutes before walking over to a large storage cabinet and opening the door, letting Conrad out.

"Let's not do that again," the general said, gasping for air.

"You heard?"

"I heard," Conrad nodded, "I've got about 75 agents workin' for Paranormalics who remain willing to help me out. Alcala and Fountain have moved everything out."

"You have a plan on staying somewhere, retaliating?"

"Go back home to Virginia, wait to see who takes over, if it's Bruce and he gets out of line...retaliate."

"Good," they shook hands, "Just don't let them find out about this."

"Over my dead body, Butch," the President let the informality slide. They went back far enough to excuse little things like that. With that, Conrad left out the same door that Thomas had gone through.

---

"Remember anything?" Tucker asked at lunch; the assembly had been over for some time.

"Nothing."

"Not even Val's new..."

"**_TUCKER!!!_**" Sam _and_ Fenton shouted in unison this time.

"What!?"

"Man, I wish there was some clue that could give us some help here besides all the news reports!" Fenton threw his hands up and slammed them down on the table. As he did this, Sam noticed something on his upper arm.

"Danny, what is that?" she asked.

"What's what?"

"That thing on your arm," Fenton looked. Sure enough, there it was. It looked like an "O" connected to a larger circle.

"I dunno," he was as confused as they were, "I've never noticed it before. Looks like some kind of symbol," pain suddenly surged upward from the mark and into Fenton's head. It passed quickly, leaving behind a fresh memory.

"What?" Tucker spoke up, "What is it?"

"It's a burn mark," Fenton said, "They burned it onto me before I got left at Sam's. I still have no idea who 'they' are, but I know how that got there. It must be some kind of mark for their group or something."

"Only one way to find out," Sam said, "After school we'll head on over to the library."

"Oh no," Tucker said, "There is no need for all three of us to go there. Danny and I can look stuff up on his dad's computers, and _you_ can go to the library," Sam looked over to Fenton to see what he thought of Tucker's plan. Fenton just shrugged.

"Alright," Sam said.

---

Panther, its fur and tail back, reappeared in the base, dropping a CIA agent to the floor with him for Velkan to interrogate telepathically. He did so, and frowned at the result.

"Just as expected," he turned to face his advisors, "It's Bruce. They don't seem to be giving it away to the press. I'd hoped they would have waited a bit longer. Vlad's plan is set to go into motion soon and with Conrad in charge, they'd be helpless. Now we may have to do some re-planning of our own. Fetch Plasmius," one of his advisors went to do so, coming back with Vlad in a few minutes.

"It's Bruce," Velkan said at once, "They'll be on their guard. What do you suggest?"

"Maybe move up my plan a few days? Surely the Dutchman has brought in all the supplies by now."

"True…" Velkan thought for a moment, "All right. It goes into motion this evening."

"Excellent," Vlad grinned evilly, "Though there is one thing. Both halves of the ghost-boy are still out there, and I will be needing them..."

"Thank you for reminding me, Vlad!" he snapped his fingers, bringing Panther to attention, "Bring us the ghost-child's girlfriend," after it vanished, he turned to his men, "We need to be absolutely sure that Danny Phantom was not too terribly injured last night. If so, I don't expect it to succeed in bringing her to us this time. For that, I have a plan," he turned to Vlad specifically, but did not say a word.

---

Danny Fenton and Tucker were running down to Fenton's house, Fenton keeping an eye on the mark on his arm. Tucker, however, was more interested in the crowd at the new arcade centre. He stopped right in the middle of the sidewalk, which led to Fenton crashing into him.

"Dude, Val's there!" he pointed to the building, "Since you can't remember her phone number, I'll have to lay on the charm in person!" ignoring Tucker's ego, Fenton brought up the more important point.

"Tucker, we have things to do," he pointed to the mark on his arm, "at my dad's?"

"Hey, Paulina's there!"

"_Tucker..._"

"Let's go, dude!" Tucker dragged Fenton off over to the arcade centre.

---

Sam had made a brief sketch of the mark on Danny's arm at school after they had decided to split up. She was the only one in the library at this time, the books _Superstitions of the Victorian Age_ and _Symbols of the Supernatural_ sitting by her computer. She was on the same page where she had found out about the cursed Amulet of Aragon. So far, nothing had turned up, but she hadn't looked through the books yet.

"Excuse me," the librarian said, "We close in two minutes. Do you need to check out anything?"

"Yes," she closed down the site and grabbed the two books. Outside the building, perched on the roof, was Panther, in invisible form. It entertained itself while waiting for Sam to exit the building by following the motion of a bird overhead. It moved its eyes, and sometimes its head, wherever the bird was moving, almost completely lost in following the path of the winged little creature. It maintained is focus enough, however, to sense when the door below it was opened. Sam walked out, one book under her arm and the other open in her hands. Panther let her walk off a few feet before climbing along the roof and jumping into the tree nearest Sam. It continued to follow her in this silent form as she read.

"Finally," she found the symbol, "'A mark often associated with ghosts, used to brand people during witch and werewolf hunts in the Middle Ages. In the 19th Century, it was rumoured that the ghosts of the murdered crew of a pirate vessel formed an organisation called The Order and adopted it as their symbol.' So that's what it is," she shut the book, put it under her arm, and continued walking. After a minute, however, Sam began to feel the eerie sensation caused by being in the presence of a true ghost. Her pace quickened, as did Panther's. As she began moving faster, it resorted to moving from place to place by light flashes and fog, which were seen by Sam. Soon she was running as fast as she could down the streets of Amity, Panther following her along the rooftops and now visible. Once Sam made a turn between two buildings on a different street, it leapt off from the rooftops, soaring through the air and towards its victim. She just barely managed to jump to the side and make a turn up an alley, Panther quickly getting back on all fours and heading after her. A dead end led Sam to abruptly halt and turn to face the creature-ghost. It smiled, hissing a little and licking its lips. Before it could strike, however, it was hit hard by an ectoplasmic energy blast as Danny Phantom flew down between Panther and Sam.


	10. Vlad's Plans

"..._Danny!?_" Sam managed to spit out in disbelief. It had to be him, but...he was in ghost-form again! That wasn't the only peculiar thing about him. He was completely transparent and had an overcoat on instead of his typical black-and-silver uniform. He appeared tired and in need of rest, but strong enough to take on Panther. The two met in mid-air, Phantom knocking Panther to the ground; he was soon kicked off. He whirled around to catch Panther's blows. As he did so, Sam got her first look at his face, and she dropped her two books at the sight of the five long scars. Phantom knocked the creature-ghost up against the wall, kneeing it in the stomach and grabbing it by the neck.

'_Not again_,' Danny thought to himself. He was getting ruthless again. This time it was harder to fight off the urge. Brief surges of energy were going from his hands and running through Panther's body, slowly frying it. He kept trying to pry his fingers off the creature-ghost's neck, but some force or other in his mind encouraged him to continue his present course of action. The conflict of his conscience was enough to distract him from Panther's blow, which then smacked him back a few feet with its tail. It turned back to Sam, jumping towards her. Phantom knocked it out of the way again before it struck. He flew over by Sam as Panther shot out a ball of light. Phantom covered both of them with a shield, which wrapped around the light blast and fired back at Panther. It vanished the minute it was hit, sending fur flying everywhere.

"Uh, Danny?" Sam wanted some answers.

"OK," he didn't know where to start, "Have I shown up around here before today?"

"Yeah. You didn't have your powers and couldn't remember anything after the accident in the lab."

"OK," now he could start explaining, "The Ghost Catcher is missing from the school, right?" Sam nodded, "Well, the night I got caught, they also took that and used it to split me into Danny _Fenton_ and Danny _Phantom_. I dunno what they did to Fenton, but I've been getting beaten on the last four days because they're trying to force me into learning new abilities!"

"Do you remember anything after the lab accident?"

"I remember everything _after_ it. Don't remember much of anything else," Sam sighed. This was getting ridiculous, "and I've also been having violent fits of vicious rage every time I fight!"

"Do you know where The Order is at?"

"How'd you know what they were called?"

"Never mind. Do you know?"

"Yeah," Phantom nodded, "But I want to join together with Fenton again before we go there. Where is he, anyway?"

"They marked his arm with some kind of symbol. I looked it up at the library and Tucker and Fenton went to look it up at Danny's house. What happened to you?" she pointed to the scars on his face.

"Oh, uh..." he pointed over to the pile of black fur on the ground, answering the question, "...Let's go, then," he grabbed Sam's arm, went invisible, and flew off.

---

Danny Fenton was leaning up against a wall, looking extremely irritated. Tucker was trying to show off and act cool to Valerie (and, for once, actually doing a pretty good job at it), some of Dash's jock friends had shown up, meaning Dash wasn't too far behind, and they still hadn't done their part of the research. Sighing, Fenton looked through his backpack for the third time while there. In addition to his school items, there were several of his parents' ghost-hunting gadgets in there. His backpack had been like that when he got out of the hospital, and Sam had advised him to leave them in. He pulled out one device that looked somewhat like a Gameboy with a lot more buttons. He hit one button on the back.

"Ghost-Tracker Activated," a computerised voice said, the screen on the front lighting up. A blinking green dot showed on the screen to the North.

"Tucker," Fenton said, not looking up from the ghost-tracker, "We've gotta go."

"Right, right. Just give me another few..."

"Now."

"Just one more..."

"_Now!_"

"Alright, alright! Catch ya' later, Val!" Fenton rolled his eyes at that and ran out.

---

Velkan drove the needle filled with now completely black fluid into the ghost, slowly bring Panther out once more. He tossed the needle aside.

"Well, now that it's furry again," Vlad was growing impatient, "Would you care to explain your plan now?"

"Of course. If you'll excuse us," he turned to his advisors; they left the room quietly. Once they were gone, Velkan waved his hand over the floor. To they eyes of the three in the room, it was now an overhead view of Amity Park.

---

It's heading for my house," Fenton checked the scanner, "Come on!"

"I still don't get why I had to come with you!"

"_Tucker..._"

"Just kidding."

---

"They're not in the lab," Sam ran upstairs, "They might have headed over to Tucker's house."

"Let's go," Phantom took Sam's arm again and flew up towards Tucker's.

---

"Hold it," Fenton stopped in the middle of the street, "Now it's going towards your house."

"Huh?"

"Let's go," they ran off.

---

"I don't think they're here either," Phantom floated down from upstairs. He banged his fist down on the table, letting off a surge of energy and blowing it up, "And I didn't mean to do that."

"There's only one other place they could be, knowing Tucker," Sam sighed, "Come on."

---

"Well, well, well..." Tucker said as he watched the ghost-tracker over Danny's shoulder, "looks like they're heading back to the arcade centre. You dragged me away from the only girl in school who isn't prepared to reject me before I even ask her out for a chase around town that leads back to where we started!?" Fenton ignored him.

"Come on," he headed back down the street.

"Pointless, Danny!" Tucker shouted, "_Pointless!_"

"Tucker?"

"What?"

"Knock it off and let's go," Tucker got over his shouting spree and followed Fenton back to the arcade centre. They met Sam just outside the doors to the location.

"Sam," Danny Fenton showed her the tracker, "There's a..." Danny Phantom slowly became visible. Both the ghost-tracker and Danny's jaw dropped, "...ghost?"

"Well…" Tucker commented, "This makes things complicated," A blast of red energy that destroyed the door to the arcade centre disrupted the conversation. Vlad Plasmius floated above them, grinning.

"I think running would be a good idea," Tucker had already started to inch away.

"Good idea," Danny Phantom nodded, "I'll hold him off," he flew up to Vlad's height as the three ran off, along with everyone in the arcade centre.

"Danny," Vlad crossed his arms, "Good to see you. I do hope I haven't come at a bad time."

"Sorry to tell you this then," Phantom began charging up two energy blasts, "But you did."

"How unfortunate," a red glowing sword appeared in Vlad's hand, "Let's see how well you do outside training camp," he flew forward, slashing at Phantom, who managed to form his own sword and parry just in time.

---

"Am I missing something!?" Fenton shouted to his friends as they ran, "That ghost looked..."

"Just like you, we know," Sam said, "Jog any memories?"

"No," Fenton shook his head, "Neither did that other one."

"Uh, guys?" Tucker had stopped.

"What?" Sam asked. Tucker pointed up. Panther was standing up on a nearby roof, grinning.

"That's what."

---

Phantom and Vlad had moved their battle up high enough into the air to avoid detection by most people on the ground, but they couldn't completely avoid notice by people working on higher floors in office buildings.

"What the heck are you getting paid with by The Order!?" Phantom parried another blow, "You're already filthy, stinkin' rich!"

"Paid, ghost-child?" Vlad laughed, "You think I'm a mercenary? How naïve! I am one of their own!"

"Huh?" Phantom was kicked onto a rooftop.

"Oh, of course, I joined because I have my own personal interest, and yes, even if a state of emergency is declared and ghosts placed in jeopardy I would be in no danger because of my reputation and my hiding my being a ghost, but I am one of them nonetheless."

"For what?"

"You mean you don't remember your stay at my home? Now come, Danny! It's supposed to be Danny _Fenton_ that can't remember things from being a ghost!" he could remember.

"So how's being in The Order going to get my mom and me to join you?" Phantom tried a cut to the head, but it was parried. Their glowing blades exchanged blows back-and-forth. Then Vlad struck Phantom in the chin with his elbow, knocking him back. Upon recovering, Phantom let loose a vicious swing that Vlad just barely managed to block.

"Feeling angry, Danny?" he grinned. It was happening again, "That's how it began for me when I went into The Ghost-Zone for the first time," Phantom swung his sword around violently again thrice. He wanted to avoid these bouts of rage, but for some reason...a part of him enjoyed it.

"Confused, emotionally unstable, under constant threat by ghosts," Vlad started again, "The building of an unexplainable rage inside? I know all about that. In my case it was being in The Ghost-Zone that caused it, but you're being separated from your human half works just as well."

"What are you _talking about!?_" Phantom just barely kept himself from trying another vicious slash.

"Most ghosts are evil, correct?" Vlad grinned, toying with Phantom as he spoke, "You don't think they all start out like that, do you? The forces of the paranormal in The Ghost-Zone and just being an ectoplasmic being are what cause it. Only a few can fight off the urges, and they are the ghosts of old, wise men. And it's much harder to fight than it is to embrace. Those few ghosts must remain in a place of calm and serenity for months...sometimes years. And you, unfortunately, are a young, inexperienced youth who is in the middle of a hostile environment," Phantom gave out a roar of rage as he brought down his blade as hard as he could, Vlad just managing to shield his head with his own sword.

"And the more you're provoked," Vlad kicked Phantom back, "The harder it gets to fight it," Phantom got up on his feet, breathing heavily. Not from exhaustion this time, but from the effort to fight off his more "ghost-like" tendencies. He changed his sword into a knights-style shield and got an energy blast ready with his other hand, flying back up to Vlad's height.

"It's not gonna work, dude," he said defiantly.

"It already is," Vlad fired an energy blast at Phantom, who blocked it with his shield, "Once you are on my side, it should be simple to convince your mother to join us. But I can't teach you everything I know unless we get your human side back. Joined together again," they began to fight once more as they conversed, "You will be rather unstable at first, wanting to go back to your old life. Some time in The Ghost-Zone will change that. After a few missions for The Order, our contracts will have ended and we'll be free to go. But I wouldn't want to completely destroy your old life. I know about your girlfriend's time being possessed."

"She's not," Phantom barely avoided another energy blast, "my girlfriend!"

"Really?" Vlad grinned, "Well then I guess there's no harm in telling you then," he flew back, crossing his arms and floating calmly above the ground.

"Tell me what?"

"I may be in this for my own reasons, but I do feel obliged to obey Velkan's orders. I'm not interested in bringing you back to The Order's base, Danny. At least not today. This was...a distraction."

"From _what!?_"

"With any luck, Panther has found your girlfriend by now."

---

Tucker ran after the Fenton Thermos, it having been knocked from his hand for the third time in the row. Panther had Danny Fenton and Sam on the run in the opposite direction. The two friends turned opposite corners as they came out of the alley, Fenton pulling out the Fenton Fisher and waiting for Panther to come out. Instead, he felt the fishing line yanked from his hand and a blow make contact to his neck. With Fenton out, Panther set its eyes on Sam, who expected it to jump forward and attack. Instead, it slowly phased down into the sidewalk. Sam looked around nervously, wondering where it would come up. She was afraid of moving towards Fenton and of staying in the same place. She took a few steps back before two furry hands shot out of the ground, becoming green fog and flying into Sam's mouth. She disappeared in a blinding flash of light.

---

"_What!?_" Danny Phantom shot forward, seizing Vlad by the neck. The older ghost-hybrid just grinned.

"She should be back in the base by now."

"If _anything_ happens to her..."

"You're enraged," Vlad laughed quietly, "Good," Phantom realised what was happening. Almost everything in his mind told him to let go of Vlad's neck and find Danny Fenton and Tucker, but the one thing that thought differently seemed strongest.

"But why waste rage on me?" Vlad said, "I'm merely following orders. It's Velkan you want to destroy," Phantom's mouth was quivering, his body shaking. It was becoming harder and harder to fight it. Finally he managed to pry his fingers from Vlad's throat and fly off. Vlad just stayed in the air, snickering to himself.

---

"Danny?" Danny Fenton could hear Tucker's voice, "You OK, dude?" he slowly got up on his knees before noticing something was wrong.

"Where's Sam!?" they both turned their heads as Danny Phantom flew down. He grabbed Fenton by his shirt.

"_You!_" he looked absolutely outraged, but in a way that showed he was trying to fight it, "We have to join back together..._now!_"

"What are you talking about?"

"_Don't you remember anything yet!?_"

"No," Fenton pulled his shirt from Phantom's grip, "And until I do, I'm not doing anything involving joining bodies with a ghost. What happened to Sam?"

"They got her."

"Do you know where they are?"

"Yes," Phantom looked back and forth between Tucker and Fenton, "I'm gonna need some help."

"Just show us where they are," Fenton said.


	11. Reunited

The woods were just outside the park where Danny Phantom had been scarred last night. Consisting half of pine, half of coniferous trees, they stretched outward for about a mile to a mile and a half. Near the centre of it all, there was a small, empty clearing, covered by nothing but grass. It was here where Phantom, Danny Fenton, and Tucker touched down.

"Well?" Tucker looked around, "Where is it?" Phantom pointed down to the ground.

"I don't know if there's a door. I just phased out of there," he said, "They're gonna try and re-infect Sam with another one of those ghost-seeds. Don't ask," he turned to Fenton before he could say anything, "Let's go," he phased them through. They landed in a dark room, with one small, eerie yellow light providing the only light source for wherever they were. There was a door right in front of them.

"This must be the entrance," Fenton looked around before throwing his hands up to his head. Another surge had gone through his mind.

"Danny?" Tucker was getting nervous.

"I...I'm fine," he turned to Phantom, "Do you know which room I got held at once they split us?"

"Yes."

"Show me," they both looked over at Tucker, "You stay here," with that, he opened the door and left with Phantom, closing it behind them.

"Uh, guys?" Tucker called back after a minute, "I don't like it in here!"

---

The hallways were long and empty, lit by either torches or strange glowing green lights built into the walls. The entire place looked aged, the walls wet and some having mould covering parts of them. Phantom walked down the hallways calmly, ignoring the appearance of the place. Fenton's breathing was heavy as he examined every nook and cranny he could find. This place was becoming more and more familiar with every turn they took. He was starting to remember...

"Hold it," he snapped out of his trance as Phantom held up a hand to signal that they should stop. They were near the same door-less room by which Phantom had gone through on his escape last time. The crew of the _Whaler_ and The Flying Dutchman were gathered together in there once more, singing another jig.

"I was held in that room," Phantom pointed to the door across the hall from the chamber holding the pirates, "Your cell was around the corner. We have to get past them as silently as we can," Fenton nodded in agreement. Phantom made them both invisible, and they crouched down as low as they could, crawling past the doorway.

"It be the ghost-child and his human half!" they heard the Dutchman shout.

"Ah, crud," Phantom sighed before jumping to his feet, forming an ectoplasmic sword to block those of the pirates, "Get to your cell now!" he shouted to Fenton, who headed off for the room. Before he could get that far, however, one of the pirates flew past Phantom and managed to pull him into the chamber, where he had to dodge furniture and ghost blasts. Another duel with pirates had begun.

---

"Sir!" one of Velkan's advisors ran into his superior's private quarters, where he found Velkan writing a note to himself, "The men have been assembled to their release chambers and Panther has brought in the girl. Plasmius has not returned yet but is fine."

"Good."

"Sir," the advisor's manner turned unusually nervous, "The ghost-child has returned to the base."

"Has he?"

"His human half is with him."

"And?"

"They are battling with the Dutchman and the crew of the _Whaler_, sir," this entire time, Velkan had neither looked up nor ceased writing. He now calmly set his quill down and stood up.

"Lock the girl in Cell 24, I'll be there in a minute," he said to his advisor, "And bring Panther to me."

"Yes sir."

"Is anyone else with them?"

"Someone's in the entrance."

"Send Desiree to him."

"Yes sir," the advisor left Velkan alone in the room again.

---

Phantom kicked two ghosts back and parried the blade of another one, trying to give Fenton room to get out. Unfortunately, the human half of Danny kept getting pushed from one corner of the room to the other by The Flying Dutchman, the rest of the ghosts keeping Phantom as busy as they could. The ghost half of Danny was also starting to get those urges of fury once again.

"Any ideas?" Fenton shouted, dodging a flying chair.

"I'm thinking of one," Phantom was shoved into the corner of the room, his blade barely holding back those of three grinning pirates. His struggle to control his rage was getting harder. He couldn't hold back all of it. His eyes glared up, glowing brighter than ever and in a different shade of green. A huge surge of ghost energy exploded outward from his body, knocking the pirates clear across the room. He then charged into the Dutchman, knocking him into a different corner of the room.

"Get to that room!" he shouted to Fenton before turning his attention to the battle, dodging a blow from the Dutchman's sword. Fenton didn't wait to be told twice. He ran as fast as he could, diving to avoid a flying chair and shooting out of the room, crashing against the wall. Ignoring his headache from the crash, he headed off to the cell.

---

"Uh, guys?" Tucker didn't like being alone with nothing to do. He had brought no technology to mess with, and he had no one to talk to. The only thing he could do was stand around, calling after the long gone Phantom and Fenton, "This is getting pretty boring! I'd love to help you look for Sam if you need any help!" he heard a strange sound, "Guys? Danny...I mean, Dannys?" no answer, "Must've been the...base creaking. Yeah," he laughed nervously. The sound came through again, louder.

"Guys!?" Tucker shouted, "This isn't funny! I'm getting fairly alarmed here!" he didn't notice the beautiful ghost-genie coming in through the wall to his left.

"You!" Desiree exclaimed (and causing Tucker to scream as he turned around), "You are the one whose heart's desire was taken from you by that ghost-child. I shall restore it to you..." she raised her hands to perform her magic.

"Wait!" Tucker shouted, "That's not my heart's desire anymore!"

"No?" she lowered her hands, "Then what is?"

"Well, right now it would be to get out of here..."

"So you wish it," she raised her hands again, "So it shall be," a minute later, Tucker found himself outside the base in the clearing, alone.

"Wait!" he shouted to the ground, "I didn't mean out here...let me back in!" no response, "Oh, crud!" he set about looking for a door.

---

Fenton quickly opened the cell door and slammed it behind him, hoping no one had followed him. His breathing heavy, he slowly turned around. What looked like a large dream-catcher with glowing green webbing was mounted up in the room, with clubs, blades, and lasers lying on a table. There was a slab of wood with chains on the four corners, and several shackles stuck on the wall. Fenton stared at all of it in amazement. He slowly walked over to the table and picked up the blade. It was Skulker's, detached from his armour. He had used it to slash Fenton across the back. Fenton turned around to the door again. He noticed by its base a metal rod laying by a fire burning in a bowl. He walked over to pick up the metal rod. At the end of it, there was a symbol. The same symbol that had been burned on his arm. He dropped the rod to the floor as a new surge of memories came over him. He could remember being forced through the Ghost Catcher, Phantom being taken away by Plasmius. He remembered everything that Skulker had done to him; the beating on the tables, the slashing with the blade, being hit by the lasers, and far worse. Some of it took place in another room, down the hall. A device had been placed on his head, firing ghost energy through his body. Now memories from even farther back were coming. He remembered all of the events of the past few weeks, the incident with Frost...all the way back to the lab accident. He finally snapped out of his trance, opening his eyes and gasping for air. As he slowly got his breath back, Phantom phased through the door, falling to the floor with his hands over his head.

"Can we..." Fenton nodded before Phantom even finished his sentence. The ghost-half slowly got to his feet, still gripping his head. The two halves slowly moved towards one another. As they collided, both began to yell and moan as the pains of the past week from one half surged into the mind of the other. As they slowly became one, that one threw his hands up to his head. All that Vlad had forced onto Phantom, and all that Fenton had endured, both having occurred at once...the body stumbled around, phasing through the wall and collapsing into a large, empty room. He lay there on the floor silently for some time, his hands still on his head. Then Danny slowly opened his eyes. He got up on his feet slowly, looking over his body. He was finally back in one piece, but...he still didn't feel like he used to. He felt more relaxed, more...more confident. He slowly closed his eyes. Two blue rings formed around the centre of his body, one moving upwards and the other moving in the opposite direction. Danny opened his eyes. He stood in ghost-form, the scars gone and his uniform fixed.

"Pulled yourself together, eh?" a familiar voice came from behind him. Velkan and Panther had silently entered the room. Danny kept a calm eye on them, "And with more power, I see. Are you here to rescue your little girlfriend or find out our plans?"

"Both," Danny answered blankly, not bothering to point that he and Sam were just friends (like anyone would've listened anyway).

"My my, we are going to be busy this evening," Velkan smiled, "Well Danny, you are more than welcome to try. I'm just worried about whether or not you can actually pull it off."

"None of this would've happened if you hadn't attacked Conrad," Danny pointed out, "If you wanted to destroy a threat to all ghosts, you should've attacked Frost."

"You really think Bruce wouldn't have stooped as low as her to get power?" Velkan's eyes narrowed, "It doesn't matter now anyway. Goodbye, Danny," he headed over to the door on the far side of the room, Panther remaining rooted to his spot. The cat-ghost's yellow eyes glared at Danny menacingly, but he took no notice, instead watching Velkan as he shut the door behind him. As he turned his sights back to Panther, he found that it had vanished, the last of some green fog falling into the floor. Up until then, Danny had merely moved his head to follow the two ghosts. Now he turned all the way to face where Panther had just been, standing firmly. Deafly silence followed for but a moment, then Danny whirled around, blasting Panther just as it re-formed above ground, knocking it back into a wall. The creature got up quickly, though clearly dazed. It wasn't used to being caught by surprise; normally it did that. Regaining its focus, it charged towards Danny on all fours, jumping up towards his face. At the last minute Danny ducked, coming up with a punch to the cat-ghost's stomach and knocking it up against the ceiling. Beginning to lose its temper, Panther fired off a blast of light towards Danny, who raised an ectoplasmic shield. Wrapping the shield around the light, Danny fired it back at Panther, expecting it to change back to normal upon contact. It made a direct hit, and clearly injured the creature, but it maintained its cat-like form.

"Surprised?" Velkan's voice rang through Danny's mind, though the ghost himself was nowhere to be seen, "I did forget to mention that we perfected the Panther formula, didn't I?" Danny stopped looking around the room and looked at Panther. The ghost was up on its feet, grinning evilly. Danny laughed nervously as he grew extremely worried.

"Ah, crud," he barely managed to block Panther's coming strike.

---

Sam was held in a cell similar to the one Danny had been held at before he was split in two. The only difference was that this room had several sets of shackles on the wall, and they were real, not ghost. Sam tried moving her arms to see if they were loose, but they were well secured into the walls. She gained other concerns as the doors opened and Velkan stepped in.

"Good evening," he took his hat off, "Samantha, is it?"

"What do you want with Danny and me?" Velkan laughed at that.

"Already busy asking that, are you?" he came further into the room, "And yet I'm not so sure you know what we plan to do to you. I wouldn't be expecting your boyfriend..."

"Danny is _not_ my boyfriend!"

"Sure he isn't," Velkan nodded, "So that explains why when we were watching you over the three days he was here you were the most concerned, and why according to the files we took from Paranormalics only you were with him on that vacation where you met Frost, and why he came in here to save you without rational thought."

"He's my _best_ friend. How do you know about that vacation?"

"It seems General Conrad didn't want some of Frost's old files lying around for prying eyes," he pulled them out from behind his back, "Apparently her last entries. Extremely detailed plans concerning The Gateway project, and also mentions Jack Fenton's son being a ghost-child and his girlfriend being infected by the ghost Volpe's seed," Sam looked down to the floor. There had to be a way out of here!

"So why do you need us?" she asked again.

"Ghost hybrids may be mortal, but they do have some advantages over pure ghosts," Velkan tossed the file aside, "As for possessed hybrids...in addition to the advantages of a normal hybrid, their insanity enables them to take on assignments not even the bravest or foolish ghost would undertake."

"If you infect me with a seed, you're putting some ghost somewhere at huge risk."

"We know. So does that ghost. He accepts his fate. It's for the good of our kind."

"You're not gonna get away with this!"

"Well, with Panther keeping your Danny occupied and you not in a position to escape, I don't see anything liable to stop us. Infecting you isn't the big event of this evening, you know."

"What is?" Velkan didn't answer the question. Instead he picked up the files, backed away towards the door and snapped his fingers.

"Guards," two large ghosts phased through the door, "Take her to Dr. Parker," he set his hat back on his head and headed out of the room, the guards moving to secure Sam as she began struggling to get loose once more.

---

Danny crashed down, skidding down the floor on his back. He just managed to kick Panther away as the cat-ghost attacked again. He whirled around in time to see Panther's approach. He ducked, retaliating with two punches and a kick. The cat-ghost was beginning to lose its temper. It had fought this ghost-child one-on-one without The Order thrice before, and on two of those encounters it had clearly held the advantage. The first time it had taken Danny by surprise; the second time the ghost-child was too weak to fight well. He had won merely by chance. But now, re-joined and with more focus and skill, Danny was fighting the cat-ghost on even terms, and was starting to gain the upper hand. It blindly charged right into Danny, knocking both of them into another room. Seven long tables stretched across the length of the room, holding hundreds upon hundreds of test tubes, beakers, glasses, and chemicals. This was likely where the Panther formula had been developed. As the two flew apart in mid-air, Danny's hand hit one of the glasses as he fell, spilling red liquid all over his arm. It immediately began burning away at his flesh, sending the sting throughout his whole body. He quickly ripped that part of his uniform off before having to duck under a table to avoid Panther. He made his way behind a pillar without notice, changing back to normal. Even in that form, his arm was still scarred.

"This is gonna be tough," he muttered to himself, knowing he should probably avoid all of the chemicals. He changed back to ghost-form, his uniform repaired, and flew out, kicking Panther clear across the room (though well above any of the tables). Danny tried to conduct the battle, but Panther was far more flexible and manoeuvrable than he was, and avoiding the chemicals was not easy. If he wanted to win, he had to get their battle out of this room. He dodged a light blast, ducked under a table, and slammed into Panther, knocking them out of that room, through the room they had been in previously, and into the torture chamber where Fenton had been held. They landed near the Ghost Catcher. Getting to his feet, Danny was immediately struck, Panther trying to force him through the Ghost Catcher. Danny tried forcing it back, but he was more off-balanced than Panther. He raised an ectoplasmic shield unexpectedly, knocking both the Ghost Catcher and Panther back a few feet. The move surprised Danny himself.

"Didn't know the shield could to that," Danny commented before turning his attention back to Panther.

---

"Come on!" Tucker shouted, "There's a door down there. There has to be one up here!" he'd looked all around the clearing five times. There was no door at all. He kicked the ground hard, and soon found himself hopping on his left foot and holding his right. That part of the ground was metal, covered over in grass.

"How did I not notice this before!?" he shouted to himself before opening it and jumping down, landing in the same room he had been in before, "Forget what Danny and Danny said! I'm getting outta this room before..."

"You have fallen back into that which you do not want to be in!" Desiree's voice came from behind, "I shall send you out...permanently," Tucker soon found him back outside. He tried opening the door; it wouldn't budge. Throughout the forest, a long, loud yell could be heard, startling a large flock of birds.

---

Danny and Panther's fight had turned more vicious (through Panther's actions, not Danny's; now that he was joined, the bouts of rage had left him). He was knocked back against the wall, Panther slamming into him and phasing them back into the room where their battle had begun. Danny tried to keep the fight within that room, but Panther was trying to force them back into the chemical lab. It managed. Danny was knocked across the table closest to the left wall, knocking around several chemicals and spilling them all over his body. Some of them were harmless; others burned even worse than the one on his arm. He changed back to normal, where his clothes were more loose and not so close to his body. He noticed a needle filled with a greenish-blue fluid. Its label read "Ghost Serum."

"I wonder..." as the chemicals began to dry and drip off his shirt, Danny changed back into ghost form, grabbing the needle and rolling under a table, waiting for Panther to come by. It landed right between the table Danny had crashed into and the one Danny had rolled under, looking around anxiously. Danny shot out from under the table, injecting the fluid into the cat-ghost and rolling off to the side, ready to fight in case he was wrong. A strange bluish smoke filled up the inside of the cat-ghost. Its fur slowly began to fall away, its tail began to vanish, and its ears became less pointed. The ordinary ghost pulled the needle out of his arm, brushing the rest of the fur off himself. Coughing, he walked over to Danny.

"Thank you, child!" he shook his hand excitedly, "I have been held here and forced to be their guinea-pig for that experiment for months! One day I was just floating around The Ghost-Zone when some large armoured fellow grabs me from behind and drags me here!"

"No problem," Danny nodded, a bit confused, "Now if you'll excuse me...wait. You said you've been here a few months?"

"Yes."

"Do you know your way around here without that cat-stuff?"

"Of course."

"They've captured my friend and they're planning to infect her with a ghost- seed."

"That would take place in the experimental lab."

"Can you show me where it is?"

"Anything to repay you for your freeing me, sir," the ghost motioned for Danny to follow him out the door.


	12. Operation: Haunting

Vlad had finally returned to the base. The 120 soldiers of The Order had been sent off in groups of 20 to six chambers. From these chambers they were to await Vlad's orders and then the signal to move out.

"Gentlemen," Vlad was speaking to all the men telepathically, "Operation: Haunting has begun. You are to remain in your release chambers. They are designed to prevent you from phasing out, should you get cold feet. Ten minutes from now, the light on the ceiling of your chamber shall go from red to green, and the doors opened. Once they open, you are to head to Amity Park and cause as much mayhem, havoc, terror, and general chaos as you possibly can. This is meant as a message to Paranormalics."

"What's the message?" one of the pirate-ghosts asked.

"Come if you dare," Vlad resumed, "The war for our freedom has begun. Remember, in ten minutes, and not a moment sooner. If you'll excuse me, an old friend of mine's son is within our walls and I have yet to receive him."

---

Danny and Evan (that was the ghost's name) ran down the halls as fast as they could. Evan stopped them just before they entered a room without a door.

"Through there," he pointed, "There's three more empty rooms. Once you get through them, you'll find the door to the experimental lab."

"Wouldn't they have a guard around here or something?" Danny asked.

"Not tonight," Evan shook his head, "Not with Operation: Haunting going on."

"Operation: Haunting?"

"Oh, I can't believe I didn't tell you about that!" he slapped his head, "All of The Order's soldiers are gathered into six release chambers on the side of the base facing Amity Park. In..." he checked his watch, "less than ten minutes, they will be sent out to terrorise Amity as a declaration of war to Paranormalics!"

"What!? We've got to..."

"The doors are made of ectoplasmic energy and are controlled by a programmed control mechanism on the side. If we can destroy those controls, then the ghosts will be trapped inside."

"After we free Sam, will you help us with that?"

"Of course."

"Good. Let's go!"

"Leaving so soon?" Danny and Evan turned around at the sound of Vlad's voice, "I don't think so."

---

The experimental lab had the same long rows of tables and several of the same chemicals as the chemicals lab. The only difference was that the rows were made up of several small tables, there was a computer, and a retractable display drawer where several injection guns were kept. The scientist-ghost took one of them in his hand, examining it for error. The ghost from whom the seed had come stood near him, resigned to his fate after Sam was infected. Sam herself was still trying to get loose, though considering the size and strength of her guards, it was just a waste of time.

"The seed," the scientist-ghost said. It was handed to him, and he readied the injection gun. Sam began looking around desperately, trying to find something that would help her escape. She noticed a chemical sitting by the computer. Thinking quickly, she kicked it off and onto one of her guards, who immediately began screaming, letting go of Sam to brush the chemicals off. Surprised, the other guard's grip on her was starting to loosen, and she managed to break free and roll under the nearest table, kicking it forward and the chemicals with it. They went flying all around the room, sending the four ghosts into a panic. She placed her handcuffs in a small puddle of what appeared to be acid. It was, and she was soon free...from the restraints on her hands, anyway. The two guards and the ghost who had created the seed had avoided the flying test tubes, and the now burning scientist-ghost was infuriated.

---

Danny quickly parried Vlad's red sword with his green blade. Unlike his fight with Panther, his re-merging was not helping him against the other ghost-hybrid.

"That was a good plan of yours, Danny," Vlad grinned, kicking him back, "Unfortunately, The Order has other ideas," he charged up an energy blast, but before it hit, Evan knocked him back.

"Get to that lab!" he shouted to Danny, "I'll hold him off!" Danny nodded and jumped to his feet, Evan slamming into Vlad once again. As he fell back, Vlad hit a red button on the wall. Two halves of an ectoplasmic door began to form in the doorway to the next room, one coming down from the ceiling, the other coming up from the floor. Danny saw it. He dived through the space in between just before the door closed all the way and ran off.

---

Sam tossed another beaker at the guards, who jumped back quickly. There was a door up ahead; hopefully, it was a way out. Dodging the ghost who had the seed, she made her way to the door and shut it behind her. Unfortunately, this was not a way out. The room was just barely large enough to hold two people, with the only exit being the door to the lab. The scientist-ghost phased through, holding the injection gun. His lab coat was badly burnt and there were some small scars on his face. He was grinning evilly, readying the gun. Having no choice, Sam just closed her eyes and hoped it would be quick. But nothing hit her. There was no surge of pain throughout her mind as when Volpe had infected her. It didn't even seem like she was on the ground anymore. She opened her eyes. She was floating well above the ground in a large, empty room. She looked over to see who had saved her.

"Danny?" he smiled.

"And I'm back in one piece," she returned the smile.

"Well now," a voice came from behind them, "Don't you two make the most charming couple!"

"WE'RE _NOT_ A COUPLE!" they both shouted, turning around. Vlad floated above ground at their level, grinning.

"Without that Panther serum your friend doesn't amount to much, does he, Danny?"

"You know this guy?" Sam asked.

"Remember when I got back from my dad's college reunion in Wisconsin and I told you and Tuck about Masters?" he nodded over to Vlad.

"Oh."

"Well I'd hate to break up your little chat session," Vlad resumed, "but..." Danny blasted him back into another room before he could finish.

"Sam?" he said, "On the side of the base facing Amity there's six rooms. The soldiers of The Order are in them, and in less than ten minutes they're gonna attack Amity. I need you to stop them. Look for doors with a control panel off to the side, and destroy the control panel."

"Right," he set her down and flew up to face Vlad, who had already come back through the wall and back up in the air.

"Impressive, Daniel," Vlad had formed a sword, "It seems our lessons together have paid off."

"Not in the way you're planning," Danny formed his own sword, "In case you haven't noticed, I've pulled myself together."

"Oh, I'm sure that we can take care of that," Vlad blocked Danny's blow, "The Ghost Catcher's still intact, after all. Then, once you're like me, your mother joins us, and Samantha is infected, we'll handle my contract to The Order and be free to go."

"If your contract was to get Sam and me here, it's gonna be hard for you to get us to leave too once we're trained."

"You think I'd really let them train you!?" Vlad laughed, "I told you, I'll handle it myself. You'll want to leave with me! In any case, there won't be an Order for you to stay with for much longer!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Danny asked, missing a cut to the flank.

"I always choose the winning side, Danny," Vlad smirked, "And do you really think this little pirate crew will emerge victorious against the CIA!?"

"Then why didn't you keep your human self and join Paranormalics?" Danny parried a thrust to his side. Vlad chuckled lightly.

"It was I who arranged Operation: Haunting. I worked out the time and place. The Order have all been hoping that the issue of Conrad vs. Bruce would be drawn out more. A Paranormalics with Conrad in charge would be helpless against my little plan! But I…I have been hoping that Bruce would emerge triumphant, and the sooner the better!"

"WHY!?"

"Sarah Frost wasn't a fool, Danny. She and Bruce discovered what I was shortly before your little incident with her. Bruce tracked me down with a squadron of men without Conrad's knowledge and confronted me. I made a deal with them. I had learned about The Order from Skulker. In return for amnesty to me and all my true loyal friends, I would deliver The Order to them," Danny dropped his sword, which vanished. Vlad did not continue to attack. Instead, he put on a horrible grin. Danny continued to stare in disbelief…he didn't!

"Oh yes, Danny," Vlad said, as if he could read his mind, "I did. Bruce and his men are waiting outside Amity as we speak, ready to take all of The Order. They'll have their excuse for a state of emergency, my friends and I will be perfectly safe, and eventually…" he grinned again, "Eventually…I get you. The ectopuses are moving the Ghost Catcher as we speak and I have my own seeds. You will see that I can carry on without The Order quite well," his sword vanished.

"You…you would do…I can't…" Danny stammered in disbelief.

"Until next time…son," with a whirl of his cloak and a swirl of green, Vlad vanished. Danny stared after him for a moment, then took off down the halls. Enemy or not, the fall of The Order meant that Bruce would have a clear field. They had to stop Operation: Haunting, now for more reasons than one.

---

Sam had grabbed a small hammer that was lying on the floor as she ran off towards the side of the base facing Amity Park. She now came across the first release chamber. The clock on the control panel was counting down.

"Five minutes and...sixteen seconds," she muttered, "Hope they're not that far apart," she smashed the control panel, and she could hear the mumbling of the ghosts inside. She made her way down the hall, but the second door wasn't as close as she had hoped.

---

Danny sped down the halls, trying to find Sam. He heard electronic sounds coming from one large room and floated in. Velkan was typing something into a control panel and storing some files in his belt. Out of the corner of his eye he caught Danny.

"Danny," Velkan tipped his hat, "Well done in rescuing Evan and Sam from our clutches," there was something in his voice that made Danny feel uncomfortable.

"You've got to stop Operation: Haunting right now," he said nervously.

"And why is that?" Velkan seemed unconcerned, "I see no fallbacks or consequences for ghosts, my men are capable…or is it that you simply care too much for humans?"

"You don't understand! Vlad's…"

"Yes, he did come up with a nice plan, didn't he?" there didn't seem a way to get through to him from that angle. Better try a different approach.

"My friend's taking care of your release chambers," Danny told Velkan, "And you can't stop her without going through me."

"You and your friend should have more immediate concerns, Danny," Velkan smirked, "Your intervention has caused a slight change of plan. Take a look in this room right here," he stepped aside, motioning his hand to a door. Suspicious, and keeping an eye on Velkan, Danny slowly phased into the room. The walls had been stripped bare, revealing the metal framework. Attached to all the frames were small detonators.

"Every single wall in the entire base has these," Velkan said through telepathy, "We installed them in case we ever had to leave. We have another base in the country. All of them are set to go off just five seconds after Operation: Haunting begins. My advisors have moved all of our important equipment out of here in these past few minutes and are heading towards the other base. If I were you, I'd be more concerned with getting out of here alive rather than with Operation: Haunting," Danny just stared at the detonators. He was right; the timers were counting down. He flew out of the room as fast as he could, heading towards the side of the base Sam was at. Laughing, Velkan calmly floated up through the ceiling and towards the surface, surprising Tucker and heading south.

---

Danny caught up with Sam as she destroyed the control panel to the third release chamber. It had taken longer to find her than he had thought it would.

"We've got to get out of here now!" he shouted.

"But there's still three..."

"_Now!_" he ripped some of the plaster off the wall, showing the bombs. Sam grabbed Danny's arm, and the two flew off towards the surface, the timers on the bombs ticking away. Thirty seconds...twenty seconds...ten seconds...5, 4, 3, 2, 1...the base shook violently, and then began to cave in on itself, fire shooting upwards. One blast of fire knocked Danny and Sam up through the door that let one enter the base. They landed near the hole that was once the entrance. Danny was on top of Sam, making both of them uncomfortable.

"Uh..." Sam said, "Thanks."

"No problem," the explosion having disrupted the ground from being completely flat, they accidentally slid downhill, Sam now on top of Danny.

"I'd hate to interrupt," they both turned to Tucker, still feeling awkward, "but a bunch of ghosts just headed towards Amity a second ago, and it might be a good idea for...hey, where's Danny Fenton!?"

"I'm back in one piece, Tuck," Danny suddenly took notice of the first thing Tucker had said, "The Order!" Sam got off him, and he took off towards Amity.


	13. Despair & Hope

The Fenton Van and the Fenton RV pulled up by City Hall (what is the difference, you ask? The Fenton RV is the one from "Bitter Reunions." The Fenton Van, from "Face to Face," looks like a cross between the Batmobile and Mr. Crocker's Fairy Detection Van with ghost-hunting gadgets). The dramatic clouds signalling a thunderstorm that had not been seen since last week began to build up on the horizon as the sun slowly set, painting a truly magnificent scene as a background for what was about to take place. Just a matter of seconds ago, an army of pirate ghosts had come up from the forest and struck Amity Park. With no one else to turn to, the mayor and the police force had called in Jack and Maddie.

"We got here as soon as we could," Jack jumped out of the Fenton Van. He had only his Ghost-Track goggles on, the Fenton Thermos and Fenton Fisher having gone missing and the Ghost Gloves among the items stolen by The Order, "I haven't been able to get a lot of my tools re-built, so this is all I could bring," he placed a cardboard box in the police chief's hand. Inside were a few lasers, a ghost-tracker, and a mouse.

"Where are most of the ghosts?" Maddie asked, stepping out of the Fenton RV.

"About five miles up that way," the mayor pointed north. The police, Maddie, and Jack took off. High above them, Danny was flying off towards where the ghosts were, Sam and Tucker breaking through the woods and stopping to catch their breath in the park.

---

Danny came down on one of the pirate-ghosts, kicking it to the street. He had seen his parents driving up towards him. Since there were so many ghosts he didn't think he had to worry about being recognised; he just hoped that they could see he was fighting the ghosts and not attack him. Two other pirate ghosts drew their swords and flew over to face him, grinning stupidly. Danny just fired an ectoplasmic energy blast in between them and they went flying. Several cars began to pull up, but none of them belonged to the police or Danny's parents. They also came from the opposite direction. They were black vans marked "Paranormalics."

"Oh, no! Not now!"

---

Jack, Maddie, and the police pulled up at the same time.

"Hey!" Jack shouted, "Who the heck are you people!?"

"Paranormalics, Mr. Fenton," a tall man with brownish-gold hair and a southern accent walked out, "Now that I'm in charge I decided it was high time to investigate this city. We received an anonymous tip about a ghost invasion, and it looks like we came just in time," he looked up at the spirits roaming around above them.

"And just who are you?"

"Ken Bruce, new head of Paranormalics. Alright men, take 'em down!" he shouted. Pulling out ectoplasmic lasers far more advanced than anything Jack had, Bruce's men opened fire, striking down ten ghosts and causing a mass panic amongst the paranormal beings. Some of the men pulled out bizarre-looking guns that fired off small devices with three needles arranged in a triangular shape. Once these hit a ghost, it was electrocuted and sucked into the device. Danny caught one of these before it fell to the ground. He could hear noises inside. The ghost was alive, and judging by the sounds, not in too much pain. Danny caught one ghost who was proving hard to capture and knocked him into a device, catching him. He did the same to another ghost with a kick. But soon he had other worries as he was almost blasted three times by a laser and had to retreat with The Order's ghosts.

"Hey!" Jack yelled at the soldier who had shot at Danny, "That ghost was trying to help!"

"Oh yeah," he began to set his laser down.

"Get after him, corporal," Bruce ordered.

"Yes sir," he ran off.

"He was trying to..." Jack was soon interrupted.

"Ghosts are ghosts, Mr. Fenton. Now if you'll excuse me," Bruce walked past him as Sam and Tucker finally made their way up, gasping for air.

---

Danny didn't have that much trouble manoeuvring around in the crowd since the ghosts were fairly far apart. The problem was that this, combined with his being the only ghost in black with his natural skin-colour, made him an easy target. After dodging two shots from the laser, he was hit in the shoulder, crashing down through a window of a large office-building.

"Ghosts!" a secretary shrieked as Danny slowly got up, examining his wound.

"Great," he rolled his eyes, "The same shoulder that was shot when we fought Frost. I'm gonna get some permanent damage to it if it gets shot again," he phased through the floor, exiting the building and going back to normal. The soldier who shot him was looking around the streets, trying to find him. He had a ghost-tracker with him.

"Ghost To Your Left," the computerised voice said. Danny slipped away as quickly as he could, heading over to the Fenton Van. After the incident with Frost, he had asked his dad to explain some of the gadgets. He hit one button, jamming the ghost-trackers of Paranormalics.

"Sir, something's wrong with our ghost-trackers," a tough-looking soldier who appeared to hold a higher rank than the others walked up to Bruce, who looked at the tracker.

"How many ghosts do we have in custody now, sergeant?"

"At least twenty-seven, sir. That one ghost made off with a few of them, and we couldn't find him."

"Oh well. We have enough to get some facts with a good interrogation. Gather your men and head out, sergeant," the Paranormalics men began collecting their small devices, packing away their lasers, and getting back into their vehicles.

"Sam, Tucker, have you two seen Danny?" Maddie asked.

"Right here, mom!" he stepped out from behind the Fenton Van, smiling nervously. This had been quite a day. Vlad had played a double agent, Velkan and many of The Order were still at large, and Bruce had his excuse for a state of emergency. And he had been there when it all happened.

---

"New news on the anti-ghost situation," the reporter was handed a piece of paper, "In light of the events in Amity Park yesterday, where the pirate ghosts who terrorised the town last week and their Public Ghost Enemy #1 attacked downtown, Ken Bruce, the newly appointed head of Paranormalics, has asked Congress to declare a state of emergency against all paranormal creatures in the country. Debate on whether or not a vote will actually take place is currently underway. President Hartman has said that he will refuse to sign any bill declaring such an emergency, arguing that the ghost prisoners of the Amity incident have confessed to belong to a group called The Order, and that The Order should be the target for Paranormalics. Meanwhile the search continues for General Gary Conrad, who, along with seventy-five Paranormalics agents and some valuable information and equipment, went missing just the other day. And now, in a less controversial story, billionaire Vlad Masters returned from a long vacation today..." Jack turned off the TV.

"Dirty rotten Paranormalics extremists," he muttered, "They don't know the first thing about ghost-hunting! Danny, where are you going?" he didn't even turn around; Jazz and Maddie were out and he heard the door opening.

"For a walk."

"OK," Jack headed off to the lab as Danny went outside.

---

Sam and Danny had agreed to meet in the park, Tucker and his family being out of town for the day. Sam was already there when Danny arrived, sitting on the bench and waiting patiently.

"Hey," she greeted him, "You saw the news?"

"Yeah," he sighed, "and Velkan's still out there and we have no idea where his base is."

"It's gotta be somewhere to the south. That's where all the ghosts were headed."

"Mm-hmm..." Danny mumbled, looking up at the sky. This had been quite the past few days. Things were likely to head downhill from here. And yet...everything seemed so settled, so calm, so...normal now.

"Danny?" Sam waved her hand in front of his face, "You OK?"

"Yeah," he smiled, "And I think everything else will be too," Sam returned the smile. Whatever came their way, they knew they'd be ready for it.

"A-_HA!_" a familiar stupid figure jumped out from the bushes in front of them, "I am The Box Ghost! Fear me, for I shall...oh, sorry," he took off his cap in apology, "If there is one thing The Box Ghost does not do, it is interrupt young couples. BEWARE!" he took off again.

"**_WE'RE NOT A COUPLE!!!_**" Danny and Sam shouted together.

**THE END**


	14. Revised Edition

About two months ago, I read over my trilogy again and found a lot of things I wasn't happy with. There were plot holes, inconsistencies, the battle sequences needed more decription, and the villain motivations needed to be clearer. I also wanted to update the trilogy to match the new episodes and what I read about "Public Enemies." So I've revised the entire trilogy, first on a few forums, and now here. Hope you like the changes.


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